Who's That Guy?
by Ultrawoman
Summary: COMPLETE! FantasyAU - After dumping the leader of the Sunnydale High ‘in-crowd’, Buffy Summers is searching for the perfect guy that only exists in her dreams..or does he? Spuffy eventually, also WO, CX, AF, AD
1. Back To School

A/N : This idea has been bouncing around in my head for months now but I never could find time to write it amongst all my other fics! Finally, I have the time and the inclination, so here it is. I know HighSchool fics are severly over-done, but I hope you like it anyway! :-)

Title : Who's That Guy?  
Rating : PG-13  
Pairings : B/S eventually, also W/O, C/X, Ang/F, And/D, mentions B/Ang  
Summary : FantasyAU - After dumping the leader of the Sunnydale High 'in-crowd', Buffy Summers is searching for the perfect guy that only exists in her dreams...or does he?  
Disclaimer : All characters belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy, basically a whole lot of people who aren't me! This story is based loosely on the plot of the movie Grease 2, which I also do not own in any way.  
  
  
Chapter 1 - Back To School

September 1st and all the kids who attended Sunnydale High School were on their way back to that great institution of learning. Some obviously more eager than others, and some that really weren't bothered either way. Some of the less eager to attend were a gang of guys led by Liam O'Connor, or Angel, as he'd been christened by some girls a while back, a nickname that had really stuck.

Angel, along with his friends Alexander Harris (known as Xander) and Andrew Wells, stood by school gates, neither in nor out of school grounds, just on the edge where they always liked to be.

Many girls smiled at them as they walked by the coolest guys in school, a few wondering where the fourth member of the group was. Other young men nodded respectful greetings to the gang they wished they could be a part of and knew they never would be, all except for one person who didn't know he was supposed to care.

"Would you mind moving, please" he asked Angel in a polite tone as the brunette stood right in his path, "I'd like to get past"

Angel smirked to his friends before turning his attention to the new arrival.

"Say 'pretty please'" he told him and the boy looked at him strangely, before refusing to say the words.

"Well, that's not very nice, is it boys?" Angel commented to Xander and Andrew, the grin never slipping from his face, as he moved out of the way anyway.

Foolishly believing he'd won, the other young man walked by, tripping straight over the foot Angel stuck out in front of him, and landing flat on his face on the gravel path.

Several people laughed, including Angel who high-fived with Xander before the three guys in the black leather jackets walked away to find their missing member and their girls too.

The leader of the girls group, Buffy Summers, was currently trying to lose her little sister. Dawn was in her second year at Sunnydale High and Buffy's biggest annoyance was her younger sisters begging and pleading to be part of her 'gang'.

"Why can't you go bug your own friends and leave me and mine alone" the blonde complained as she looked around for the girls she spoke of.

"Because everyone knows your gang are the most popular girls in school, why can't I hang with you?" the brunette whined.

"Because you're a kid" Buffy reminded her, "Now go away and play with your little friends" she shoo-ed away her little sister, and was sure she heard Dawn curse under her breath, something their mother would definitely not approve of.

Suddenly, Cordelia Chase, Faith Wilkins and Willow Rosenburg came practically running at their fourth friend, calling her name as they hurried to meet her, and Buffy was glad she'd got rid of her sister in time, she was just an embarrassment!

"Hey guys" the blonde smiled, pushing her sunglasses up onto the top of her head so she could see her friends more clearly, "How was your Summer?" she asked Cordelia, the brunette that had yelled to her first.

"Absolutely excellent!" she gushed in reply "Daddy took me to Paris and then let me loose in the stores with his platinum card...do I really need to elaborate?" she grinned.

"Basically she bought half of the shoes in France" Faith explained in the simplest way possible, causing an eruption of giggles from all four of them.

"What about you Will?" Buffy addressed the quietest of her friends, hating the way the red-head always seemed to get left out of conversations "You have fun in England?"

"Oh it was so cool" the girls face lit up as she started to elaborate "I went to this museum and..."

"That's great Will..." Faith cut her off sharply, grabbing Buffy by the arm to make sure she had her attention "B, you should have stayed in Sunnydale. I mean, I know you wanted to see your Aunt and all in LA but man, the action at the beach this year..."

"Faith, what did you do?" Buffy smile a little as she rolled her eyes "Or should I say, _who_ did you do?"

"Buffy!" the black-leather wearing brunette looked shocked "how could you accuse me of..." she stopped speaking as she busted up laughing "no I'm sorry, I can't even be bothered to do the fake innocence thing"

The other three girls laughed too before Faith finally got around to answering Buffy's question.

"Parker Abrams, Graham Miller, and both the Hobson twins" she counted on her fingers, and Buffy's eyes went wide.

"Dwayne _and_ Del Hobson?" she gasped, as she pictured to two guys in her mind, they were just a year older than the girls and oh so fine.

"At the same time?" Cordelia gasped too.

"In the back of their Cadillac" Faith nodded and grinned proudly as Buffy and Cordelia giggled and Willow went ten shades of scarlet just thinking about it.

"What can I say?" the bad-girl shrugged "They're hot, and the car was hotter" she smirked "And you know me, I love a Cadillac" her body began to move as if she was back in that car "the feel of the leather just makes me wanna..." Cordelia held up a hand to silence her.

"Please, enough" she said as seriously as she could, but she just couldn't stop giggling at her friends antics "If I beg, will you stop?"

Faith nodded, agreeing she would stop anyway and as the four girls headed into the building she turned to Buffy.

"So what did you do this Summer, Summers?" she asked the blonde with a smirk "Apart from spending quality time with the folks" she rolled her eyes at the very idea, thrilled that her own family's idea of taking care of her was handing over as much cash as she needed.

"I shopped, I sun-bathed, I partied, y'know how it is" Buffy replied with a shrug, and all three of the other girls thought it was strange for her to be so underwhelmed by everything.

"It was a great Summer, made better by knowing this is the last time we gotta come back to this place" Cordelia commented as they passed over the threshold and into the already busy halls, to start their senior year.

"I'm glad to be back at Sunnydale High" Willow said with a smile before wincing at the triplicate looks of distaste she received "What did I say?" she cringed.

"You wanted to be back at school?" Faith asked in disbelief and Willow took a fast back pedal.

"Well, no, but, just cos...I missed Oz" she covered and the girls nodded that now they understood, as Willow let out a quiet but none the less relieved sigh. She was in this gang because of Buffy and Oz. She'd lived next door to the blonde girl since they were kids and was popular by association. Despite her somewhat geeky side, Willow's popularity had only grown as the local wannabe-singing sensation Daniel 'Oz' Osbourne found her attractive, and the two soon began dating

"Come to think of it" Cordelia frowned "where _are_ the guys?"

It was actually after registration when the male part of the group put in an appearance. Faith, Buffy, Cordelia and Willow were all standing by their lockers, doors open as they looked for the books they needed and, more importantly, checked their appearance in the mirrors attached to the inside of their locker doors.

"Hey baby" Buffy heard a whisper in her ear as someone's hand grabbed her ass.

"Angel!" she snapped, smacking his hand away "Would you quit it! I am not your 'baby' anymore" she complained, turning to yell at him before immediately turning back to the mess she called a locker.

"I was just being friendly" the tall, brunette, undeniably gorgeous young man shrugged in innocence as Willow and Cordelia both shot him a look. It wasn't long before the four girls were hidden from the school populous' view by three guys, all in black leather jackets, the trademark of Angel's gang.

"Hi Buffy" the shortest of the three, Andrew, smiled and Buffy forced a small smile back. She had nothing against the boy really, it was just Angel who drove her crazy lately.

"Hey Angel" Faith said in her sexiest voice as he came to lean on the wall right by her locker

"Lookin' good Faith" he commented as his eyes roamed her body, before he glanced briefly at Buffy and then back again.

"Not so bad yourself" the dark haired girl smiled, her own eyes going in a decidedly southern direction.

"Cordelia" the third man, Xander, addressed his girlfriend, copying Angel's stance by leaning on the spare locker between Cordy and Willow's "You miss me this Summer?" he smirked, knowing she must have done.

"No" came her immediate answer "Why? Did you miss me?"

"Hell no" her boyfriend protested and everyone watched with amusement as the pair continued "glad to be away from your annoying voice for a while" Xander said almost, but not quite, nastily.

"Yeah, well, it was a pleasure to not have to see your ugly face for a few weeks" Cordelia shot back.

"You drive me crazy" her boyfriend all but exploded, leaning closer to her.

"You make me sick" she sneered, moving closer to him too.

"God, I love you" Xander admitted before crushing his lips to Cordelia's in a bruising kiss. Anyone else would have been shocked or at least surprised to see such behaviour from two people who seconds ago were tearing each other to shreds, as they tried to get as close as was possible without getting inappropriate. But it was just the everyday norm for the friends that watched the scene.

"I love you too" Cordelia grinned as the pair finally came up for air and finally everyone's eyes shifted back to other places.

"Anyone seen Oz yet?" Andrew suddenly piped up, it was unlike any member of their group to be missing.

"No, where is he at?" Xander wondered aloud, looking to his left as Oz appeared to his right.

"I'm right here, man" the late arrival grinned as he tapped the brunette on the other shoulder, confusing him immensely.

"Hey, how was Vegas?" Angel asked the guy with the currently blue hair.

"Totally cool" came the reply "one thing missing though..." he smiled as he turned to the so far almost silent red-headed girl as she closed her locker quietly.

"Hi" Willow said shyly as Oz leaned toward her, her back against the locker door.

"Hi" he whispered back right before he kissed her, but they were all too soon interrupted by the shrill ringing of the bell, telling the whole gang that classes started right now.

"And so the torture begins again" Faith sighed as she was the last of the girls to slam her locker door shut, "Chem class here I come" she complained.

"Same here" Angel smiled, "I'll walk you"

"Cool" she nodded with a smile of her own as they walked together down the hall, Xander and Cordelia right behind them, his arm over her shoulders, and Andrew following on behind.

Buffy watched them go and marvelled at how _not_ jealous she was of Faith. Angel had clearly decided to use the brunette to make Buffy envious, and the blonde could see that plan a mile away, but she knew it wasn't going to work, he just wasn't what she wanted anymore.

"Buffy" Willow tried to get the girl's attention back from wherever she had zoned out to, "Oz and me have to get to music class...are you okay?" she checked.

"I'm fine" the blonde nodded, "er..I think I have English" she said, referring to her schedule, "So I'll see you guys later"

"Sure, we'll see you at lunch" the red head smiled before Oz took hold of her hand and led her away down the hall.

Buffy glanced around and realised she really should be moving toward class, and whilst she wasn't jealous of her friends relationships, it would be kind of nice to have someone to call hers. Only problem was, she realised, as the halls cleared around her, she was never going to find the guy she really wanted at Sunnydale High.

There was this picture in her mind, the coolest guy you could ever imagine, strong and tough and exciting, but with a gentle side, caring and sweet, and obviously totally gorgeous. There wasn't a man like that, not in this High school, anyone who came close would have been in Angel's gang. She'd dated Angel and got tired of him all too quickly.

As for the rest of them, Xander and Oz were okay but really not what she wanted and they were dating Cordy and Willow anyway. That left Andrew, who really only got into the gang because of the respect the other guys had for his brother.

Tucker Wells and Angel's cousin, Lindsay McDonald, had ruled the school in their senior year, just four years ago. Everyone knew that Angel would take pride in walking in Lindsay's shoes and he allowed Andrew to be one of his gang out of respect for Tucker, there was no way anyone would look twice at the little geek otherwise, expect to pummel him into the pavement. As it was Andrew got almost as much respect as the rest of the leather clad group who earned the admiration they got from the student population by being the best looking, coolest guys in the school.

Lost in thoughts and completely oblivious to where she was going, Buffy walked right into a young man coming the other way down the hall, his eyes fixed firmly on a piece of paper in his hands instead of the direction in which he was walking.

"Watch it!" Buffy complained as her books spilled from her arms all over the floor and the nameless man before her bent to pick them up for her.

"I'm sorry" he said immediately as they crouched together on the floor, gathering up books and paper, "I was trying to follow this map" the young man explained, in a well-spoken British accent "I think I'm a bit lost, first day you see"

"Whatever" Buffy huffed as she stood up straight again, her books now back in her grasp, the mystery man soon stood up too and they finally looked at each other properly.

Blue eyes were what hit Buffy first, but mostly hidden behind the most unattractive glasses. Facially she'd seen worse than him, good cheekbones she noted, but he was too pale. His hair was light brown and seemed to stick out in every conceivable direction, none of which were the right one. Her eyes travelled down and she had to stifle a laugh as she saw an outfit her father would most probably wear when the family was going out somewhere. Of all the people she might have bumped into, Buffy realised with a humourless laugh she had just met the man that was so far from the kind of guy she'd been daydreaming about it was unbelievable.

"I'm late" she mumbled, not offering to help the still nameless man in his struggles to find his classroom or even swap names with him. He watched her go and realised once she was out of sight what an idiot he was.

Not only had he almost knocked the most beautiful girl in the world off her feet, he'd then been so blinded by her beauty that he hadn't even asked her name or introduced himself or anything. Shaking his head at his own stupid behaviour he checked the map in his hands again and searched for the classroom he knew had to be around here somewhere.

To Be Continued...

A/N : So what's the verdict? Like? Don't like? Reviews very much welcome! I'm always nervous about new fics...


	2. The New Guy

A/N : Hey, thanx to everyone who reviewed the first chapter of this story; ForeversEnough, leostorm, wicked-angel3, Scarlet Ibis, SweetSlayer810, Saltygoodness, Red, EnemaOfState, faith95, iluvglorfindel, BuffyandDracoLover, velja. Now I know it's worth carrying on with! To clear up a few points... 1 - Yes, this fic is based somewhat on the plot of the movie Grease 2, although I will try to use the least number of exact lines/scenes, since I don't want to write the film again with different names in it, I think that kind of fic is a little pointless. 2 - No, Dru will not be in this fic, sorry. 3 - Will William turn into Spike? Well, if you've seen Grease 2 you'll know by now if and how that happens, and if you haven't, well, it'll just be a nice surprise, won't it? ;-)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 2 - The New Guy

Buffy stumbled into class, five minutes late, getting a glare from the teacher as she mumbled an apology and moved to her seat at the back of the room. There were no assigned seats in any classes at Sunnydale High, but everyone knew better than to take the seat that one of Angel's gang or their girls chose to use.

As Miss Calendar continued with her English lesson, Buffy sunk down in her chair and doodled on her note book, really not listening to a word. What good was all this to her? Pulling apart poems and plays and writing essays about it, exactly how would that help her to get a job?

Art was more of Buffy's thing, though she did not take the class. It was considered an uncool subject by her friends and so her talent was hidden from them. Today as her mind whirled around ideas of the perfect man, Buffy found the pencil in her hand had sketched a leather clad guy on a motorcycle, who as yet had no face...

A loud clatter made her look up sharply, her hand skidding across her picture and ruining it with an ugly black gouge to the paper, right across the centre of her drawing. She blamed the young man that seemed to have fallen through the classroom door, making an absolute idiot of himself in the process and causing most members of the room to laugh at him, indeed it seemed as if even Miss Calendar was having a hard time stifling a smile.

"I'm so sorry" the clumsy boy apologised as he handed a piece of paper to the teacher, "I got lost"

"Okay" Miss Calendar nodded as she read the form he'd handed her, "At least you're here now...Class" she addressed the whole room as she gestured toward the same boy who'd almost knocked Buffy flying just a few moments ago, "I'd like you to welcome a new student, this is William Spencer, and he's just transferred here from London, England"

The students looked mostly unimpressed by the foreigner who attempted to smile and then thought better of it as thirty pairs of eyes glared at him. There was only one person who didn't seem to want to stare at him in distaste or to look at him at all for that matter, a girl he recognised immediately.

"William, why don't you take a seat next to Buffy" Miss Calendar suggested, gesturing to the very same girl. With a nod William did as he was told, grinning at the fact he now at least knew his dream girls name - Buffy.

Said girl seemed highly unimpressed at having to be within three feet of the clumsy idiot that had not only knocked her down before but had also ruined her latest piece of art. She screwed up her paper into a ball as Miss Calender turned back to the chalkboard, quietened the class, and went back to teaching her lesson.

Buffy's hands itched to throw the ball of paper right at the boy beside her, who she could see from the corner of eye as he made notes on what the teacher was saying, in neat handwriting that flowed across the page. She also noticed that when his eyes weren't fixed to the front they were casting glances her way and that made her roll her eyes and sigh in frustration. It seemed in all likelihood that the guy had a crush on her. Yeah, cos she really needed that complication right now! Her social life was on unsteady ground as it was, as soon as everyone found out she'd dumped Angel. To have the newest geek as her admirer would just be humiliating!

Buffy was getting increasingly annoyed as she walked to her next class. She could feel William's eyes on her back and she knew other people would notice that he was staring at her. Usually she enjoyed getting so much male attention but not from a guy like this, it wouldn't do her rep any good at all.

She was relieved when she turned into her Math class and realised that he hadn't followed, although buried deep underneath the relief she hated herself for feeling a tiny bit of disappointment...

"Person standing here!" Willow yelled as William ploughed right into her. His eyes were clearly not looking in the direction his feet were going, but rather through the glass panel of the door Buffy had just gone through.

"I'm so sorry" he apologised immediately, "I was, er.."

"Staring at my friend?" Willow would have smirked if she knew how, instead she kind of half-smiled and William did the same.

"You know, Buffy?" he guessed, his smile widening as the red-headed girl before his nodded it was true.

"I'm Willow" she told him.

"My name is William Spencer" he introduced very formally and Willow stifled a giggle, he seemed so..sweet, "I'm on my way to History class, room number..." he checked a piece of paper.

"Room 127" Willow told him with a smile, "I'm in that class too, I'll walk with you"

William smiled at her kindness, and they walked together down the hall, Willow, not at all worried that she was befriending a so-called geek, she too would have the same label were it not for her friendship with Buffy and her dating Oz.

"So, you like America so far?" Willow asked him, making conversation.

"Yeah, I think so" the young man beside her nodded "Though some things more than others..." he continued as he glanced through the door at Buffy as they passed by the same classroom again, travelling in the opposite direction this time "I'll bet she has a boyfriend though" he sighed dejectedly, and Willow kept her silence as she wondered what exactly she should tell him about Buffy and a possible boyfriend.

The two new acquaintances were soon in the classroom where they belonged and Willow realised she needed to tell William the painful truth.

"Well..." Willow drew out as they took seats next to each other "y'see, it's like there's this hierarchy and right up top there you have Angel's gang and our group"

"Angel's gang?" William raised an eyebrow as he spoke the strange words.

"Liam O'Connor" Willow explained "they call him Angel, he has a kind of gang and they have these black leather jackets, it's kinda their trademark thing"

William nodded that he understood, and suddenly looked annoyed.

"The bunch of bastards who tripped me up this morning" he realised aloud, before it occurred to him what he'd said "oh please excuse my bad language" he apologised to Willow who couldn't help but giggle.

William smiled at what he considered to be strange behaviour.

"What?" he asked, completely bewildered.

"A guy who apologises when he curses?" Willow shook her head as her laughter subsided "You don't get many of those around here"

"Can't help it" the young man beside her shrugged "it's the way I was brought up, Mum hates to hear such language...anyway" he said suddenly, changing the subject fast, just knowing he was blushing "you were telling me about Angel's gang?"

"Oh yeah" Willow shook her head to clear her thoughts and make herself concentrate "Well, actually one of them is my boyfriend, but he wasn't with them this morning when they were mean to you" she made sure he understood her wonderful Oz would never be horrible to anyone "Oz is really sweet" she went on, her expression becoming dreamy "he's into music and he's gonna be famous one day..." as William looked at her strangely she realised she was off on a tangent again "anyway, then there's Xander" she said, coming back on topic "he dates Cordelia, and there's Angel...oh and Andrew but he's kind of only in the gang cos of his brother, it's a whole big thing"

"And Angel dates Buffy?" he guessed with a sigh, it seemed that was where Red's explanation was going.

"Used to" Willow nodded "but I think something happened over the Summer and now he seems to like the other girl in our group, Faith" she frowned as she thought about it. She really would have to ask Buffy what happened...

"So Buffy's available?" William dared to hope.

"Well, yes and no" Willow answered lamely, frowning harder as she realised she wasn't getting this right at all, plus she had minimal time as the teacher came into the room and was trying to quieten his class.

"It's fairly simple really" the red-head sighed "I just don't think I'm explaining it well. It's like our two groups kinda fit together" she tried to explain a different way, actually lacing her fingers together in front of him to show him what she meant "and some of them, especially Angel, don't like..." she stumbled over the word and decided in the end to use "...outsiders"

"Oh I'm starting to get it now..." William nodded slowly as he finally thought he understood "so the only way to date Buffy is to be a friend of Angel's, right?" he put it the way he saw it and Willow nodded once.

"Sort of, yeah"

"Can't be that hard" William shrugged, a grin on his face as the teacher called for the classes attention and the room went silence.

"Well, I..." Willow tried to protest, but William was no longer listening and the lesson had begun "Oh dear" she whispered to herself, what had she done?

Time passed and soon the bell signalling lunch time rang. As always, the guys, led by Angel, and the girls, led by Buffy, got their food and headed to the back of the cafeteria, dominating the two tables there and consequently the whole room. Today, Willow and Oz were missing. He was spending extra time in the music department, no doubt playing his latest compositions for her.

As the girls pointed at unfortunately dressed others and made fun of those with last month's hair, the guys picked out freaks and geeks that they could use for sport later on. These activities were punctuated by Cordelia and Xander's arguing and subsequesnt kissing sessions, and also of course by everyone's eating, the girls picking at salads and sipping water, whilst the guys shovelled in fries and brownies, and washed it all down with coke.

"Hello" said a voice in the centre of all of this and the entire group of six people looked over to see William standing there, tray of food in his hand and a nervous smile on his face, "Is this seat taken?" he checked, gesturing with his free hand to the chair opposite Buffy, who cringed at the thought.

"Well, if it isn't the new import" Angel smirked as he stood from his own seat near Faith and walked menacingly over to William's side, "Sitting there" he said in a low voice, "would be a very. bad. move."

"I just though that..." the Englishman began to protest but Xander was soon on the other side of him, slightly smaller yet none the less frightening than Angel as his voice sounded just as deadly.

"Don't think so much" he told him, "Less thinking, more leaving"

William shot a glance at Buffy, hoping she might defend him. She seemed like a nice girl, at least he assumed she was, but she was less interested in him than anything else in the room. As he looked down at her in her seat, she kept her eyes on her food, and all the girls noticed.

"I think I should go" William finally mumbled, turning to walk away.

"Good choice" Xander commented as Angel gave the new boy a shove on his way, and the two leather-jacketed young men went back to their seats.

"Oh my God, Buffy!" Cordelia gasped, "The new geek is so totally into you!" she giggled at the realisation, and Faith seemed to find it funny too.

"Don't worry, Buff" Angel told his ex, "I'll protect you from the big bad freak" he laughed at his own joke as Xander, Andrew, and the girls did the same.

"Screw you!" Buffy said angrily, pushing her tray away and storming out of the cafeteria. The last person she wanted smart comments from was Angel!

"Nice move" Cordelia reprimanded, suddenly not giggling so much and hurrying after her friend, Faith not far behind, leaving just the three guys at the table, looking confused.

To Be Continued...


	3. Fitting In

A/N : Thanks to; SweetBitter, Faith95, BtVS-and-PotC-Fan, MsSpike, for the latest reviews. Hope you like the new chapter!

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 3 - Fitting In

"Buffy!" Cordelia yelled as she chased after her friend, but Buffy was doing her famous 'storming away' walk, and in her straight skirt there was no way Cordy was going to catch her. Faith however had the advantage of wearing pants and got to her friend first.

"Hey B, what's with the wiggage?" the brunette asked, grabbing her friends arm to prevent her getting any further away.

"There is no wiggage" Buffy shot back, "It's just...it's just Angel!" she complained as Cordelia finally caught up to them.

"Well, without even asking, I get that it's Angel" she said, "I heard you yell from fifty yards back!"

In annoyance, Buffy sat down hard on the low wall to the side of her and, as a silent look passed between them, her two friends joined her, one either side on the wall.

"Okay, enough of this" Cordelia said sternly, "What happened with Angel over the Summer?"

With a deep sigh, Buffy answered.

"I don't know" she said quietly, "I just, he's not what I want anymore. I thought he was but, there's something missing these days and...besides all he ever wanted to do was get his hands and his lips on me and, there has to be more to life than just making out" she complained, earning a strange look from both her friends. Obviously they didn't agree with that particular statement.

"Don't take this the wrong way B, but if Angel was my guy, can't say as I'd be complaining much" Faith told her and Buffy sighed again.

"Well then, I guess we're just different" she told her friend and Cordelia was kind of feeling sorry for the blonde by now. This was not normal for her. Buffy was always happy and smiley, and she and Angel had seemed so right together for a while there, but if he wasn't what she wanted there was little point in them being together. Cordy put her arm around the other girls shoulders and told her it'd be fine, that she'd find another guy who she'd like better, or maybe she didn't even need a guy right now, to which Faith added maybe she needed several. Buffy laughed at that but still looked pained, and it hurt William to see it.

Through the window of the cafeteria he was watching the girl and her friends. He'd heard her yell at Angel as he'd taken a seat across the room and alone. Then Buffy had bolted for the door, quickly followed by her two brunette friends, William vaguely wondered where the red-head, Willow, was right now. It seemed to him that perhaps she and her boyfriend she'd mentioned were not like the rest of the group they hung around with.

As Buffy was comforted by her friends, and looking like she might cry, William felt sick. He'd been some of the cause of that, he was sure. But he would make it up to this girl, he'd treat her like a princess and one day she would be his, how hard could it be to win her over?

"Hey" a voice said to his left and William's eyes moved to see Willow and a boy with blue hair standing over him.

"Hello Willow" William half-smiled back and he thought perhaps she might have stayed and sat with him, but Xander called to the man that was apparently Oz and pulling on Willow's hand he went over to the table William had earlier been told to stay away from. There was a moment of talk and Oz sat down with the guys who pointed over at William. Angel said something that made all four laugh before Willow stood again, her face worried as she ran for the door. William watched through the window again as the red-head emerged outside and headed straight for Buffy and her friends. It gave him hope, knowing someone as sweet as Willow fitted into that world, because if she could do it, maybe there really was chance for him...

- - - - - - -

Lunch hour was over and so the bell told the students of Sunnydale High it was time for class again. The halls were full as William tried to make his way to his next class, passing by the lockers of the 'in-crowd' on his way through. He smiled at Buffy who turned to face the inside of her locker instead of him and his smile faded.

"Would you just go!" he heard her say, wondering for a second if she meant him but then he saw a girl with straight brown hair, stamping her foot beside the blonde, she had to be younger but not by much and a certain look he'd seen in her eyes was that same as that he'd seen earlier when Buffy was angry and upset, there was no doubt these two were sisters.

"Hey, everyone at the Bronze tonight?" Xander called generally to the group as he grabbed Cordelia's hand and they backed down the hall towards their next class.

"Yeah" "Sure" and "As always" came the three replies he actually heard over the general school noise. The Bronze was the local club and favourite haunt of the two gangs. They ruled there as much as they ruled the school.

'The Bronze?' William thought to himself, remembering passing by the single night-club on the way into town last week 'Well, I suppose I'm going out tonight...'

- - - - - - - -

It was past seven o'clock and William was standing in front of a full length mirror checking his outfit for the Bronze. He didn't have all that much in the way of 'casual clothes' and what he did have was not very suitable for an American night club. He didn't think he looked too bad in the black pants and mid-blue shirt he was currently wearing, but was he supposed to have the shirt tucked into his pants or not? And how many of his shirt buttons should he have undone? And what about shoes? Realising he was starting to seem very much like a girl, William decided to leave his clothes as they were and hope it was right.

"William!" his mother called, "I thought you were going out tonight!"

"I am, mother" he called back with annoyance, as he moved from his bedroom to the bathroom. He removed his glasses and took his contact lenses from the cabinet. He seldom wore them since he had a general squeamish-ness, especially about sticking his finger in his eye, but he figured he'd look better without the spectacles he usually wore, and Buffy was worth it.

After several minutes he emerged from the bathroom and hurried down the stairs where his mother waited.

"You look wonderful William" she told him with a smile and he blushed at the comment.

"I won't be late Mum" he promised as he slipped on a jacket and made for the front door.

"Have fun!" Anne called behind him as he stepped out into the crisp night air and took a deep breath. Now he was actually on his way to the Bronze he was getting nervous, but he soon realised the reception he got from the people there couldn't be any worse than that he'd gotten at school, his fellow students were, for the most part, not very welcoming to their new student. William took another deep breath and lengthened his strides, deciding the faster he got there the better, then the initial entrance would be over. He started to practice what he might say when he walked in, what he could say to Buffy and her friends, not knowing what had occurred and what was still occurring at the club down the road.

- - - - - - -

"Oh come on, B" Faith gave her friend a friendly shove as they sat side by side at the bar, "At least smile a little, look like you might be having a good time!"

Buffy pasted a huge fake grin on her face for a second and then let it go, "Happy now?" she asked with a sigh. Faith was about to answer when Xander and Cordelia came over.

"Will you two do something with Little Miss Yawn-fest here?" she said as she got up from her stool, jerking a thumb back at Buffy and carrying her drink in the other hand.

"What's up Buff?" Xander asked her as Faith walked away to find Angel, again.

"Nothing" she lied, there was no way she was telling one of Angel's best friends that he was her problem, "Just tired" she shrugged, picking up her drink and turning away. Cordy and Xander shared a look before both shrugging and going back to sucking face.

"Eeew, gross" Dawn complained as she walked past, but it didn't stop the pair from continuing, "Can I get a beer?" the fifteen year old asked the barman, earning an incredulous look from both him and her sister. Even Buffy and her friends weren't old enough to order alcohol, though it didn't stop them trying and succeeding sometimes. Dawn sighed with annoyance, "It was a joke" she said grumpily, "I'll have an orange juice, please"

Buffy stood up almost as soon as her sister sat down beside her. The last person she felt like spending time with right now was her annoying kid sister, but her mother always insisted that the littlest Summers be taken out with Buffy and her friends. Mostly no-one even paid attention to her.

"Hey, what's going on?" the blonde asked as she walked over to stand by Willow. The red-head's eyes never left her boyfriend as she answered.

"Pool tournament" came the answer as the blue haired boy lined up his shot "I'm kinda hoping Oz misses this shot" Willow admitted in a whisper "then he'll be out and I might actually get to dance with him" she giggled and Buffy couldn't help but smile, but it didn't last long before she frowned into her glass again. "You okay?" her friend checked, finally paying attention to something other than Oz.

"Yeah, I guess" Buffy shrugged non-commitally, still looking into the bottom of her glass, as if she'd find the answers to the worlds problems in there, or maybe just her own.

"'Cause y'know if you need to talk I..." Willow's offer of help, friendship, and support was cut short by her boyfriend arriving at her side.

"Looks like I'm out, baby" he told her, a hand on her arm "You wanna dance?"

"Sure" she grinned as a slow song came on and they walked out onto the dancefloor. In seconds Buffy saw them wrapped in each others arms and kissing deeply.

"Hey Xan, you're up!" Angel called, and Xander reluctantly took his lips off of Cordelia and came to play pool with his friends.

"You're gonna need some luck to beat Xander" Andrew told the leader of the gang. Angel shot a look at Buffy before smirking somewhat evilly.

"Maybe not luck" he shrugged, reaching out his hand and grabbing the wrist of the brunette girl next to him "I just need to have a little Faith" he smiled as he spun her round and smashed his lips on hers. She didn't protest at all, in fact she seemed to thoroughly enjoy herself.

Buffy slammed her glass down angrily and stormed off to the bathroom, Cordelia hot on her heels. The blonde felt sick, though she wasn't totally sure why. She hated the idea of Angel and Faith being that way together, but she knew she shouldn't care, since she didn't want him for herself either.

Buffy leaned over the sink and sighed in annoyance. What was wrong with her lately?

"Hey" she heard the voice of her friend as she came into the bathroom, "You okay?"

"I don't know" came Buffy's answer as she turned on the faucet and watched the water run, "I just...I am so completely over Angel" she assured her friend, "but he's just trying to make me look stupid and it's driving me crazy!"

"Are you sure that's all it is?" Cordelia asked carefully, "I mean, don't go nutso but you haven't seemed right all day"

"You wouldn't understand" Buffy shook her head as she washed her hands, straightened her hair in the mirror and pushed past Cordelia to exit the bathroom. With a sigh the brunette elected not to follow, but instead to re-apply the lipstick she'd recently smeared all over her boyfriend and no doubt would again as soon as the pool tournament was over and he either required a winner's reward or some kind of condolence.

Buffy headed back to the bar to get another drink. She sipped at a diet coke, smiling at Willow and Oz kissing on the dancefloor, rolling her eyes at her sister as she tried to get Andrew's attention - he was too interested in the pool game to notice, and grimacing as Angel passed by Faith, whispering something in her ear and making her laugh.

Cordelia came out of the bathroom shortly after Buffy and wandered over to the pool table where her boyfriend was being slowly but surely beaten by Angel. As he made the winning shot, the taller boy grinned and punched the air.

"Yes!" he laughed, as he slapped Xander on the back "Sorry man, looks like I win"

"Total luck, Angel" his friend protested "no way are you a better pool player than me!" he continued, but he soon realised his girlfriend standing beside him and his mind went away from pool completely.

"We should have a trophy or something for a prize..." Andrew suggested, looking around and Buffy, bored of the whole thing hopped off her stool to head for the dancefloor.

"My trophy is right here..." Angel smirked as she walked past and he grabbed at her arm, pulling her close to him.

"Hey, get your hands off me!" she yelled, pulling her arm away and taking a couple of steps back. Willow and Oz rejoined the group as the latest song ended and all eyes were on Buffy and Angel as she looked daggers at him.

"What about his trophy, Buff?" Xander asked with a shrug.

"I am a person" she reminded him and everyone else, with an angry edge to her voice "I am _not_ a trophy!"

"Oh listen to little miss independence" Angel mocked, picking up his drink and gulping at it, annoyed and kind of bored of Buffy and her moods lately.

"Yes, I am independent" she told him forcefully, folding her arms over her chest "Which means I kiss who I want when I want"

"Oh yeah?" Angel countered lamely.

"Yeah" Buffy nodded, right in his face "I could kiss the next guy who walked through that door if I wanted to" she said, arm going out to gesture wildly toward the entrance.

"Be my guest" he smirked as a group of geeks came into the club and none of the gang could stifle the laughter that rose in their throats.

Buffy made a face that was somewhere between angry and disgusted, before looking at Angel like she might commit ex-boyfriend-ocide.

"Go for it, Summers" he encouraged her, and as everyone's eyes fixed on her she realised she could do this. She refused to look weak in front of her friends and the whole gang.

With more confidence than she felt she strode toward the entrance right as William walked in. Before he had a chance to blink, Buffy brought her hands up to his head and pulled him into a long kiss.

The gangs eyes went wide as they watched, and Angel seemed to get more and more angry at the sight of his so-called ex practically sucking the face off of the latest student of Sunnydale High.

To Be Continued...

A/N2 : Like it? Review please and let me know ;-)


	4. What A Girl Wants

A/N : Thanx to BuffyandDracoLover, wicked-angel3, Ladt Savage, BtVS-and-PoTC-fan, sunnyhell, spuffyfan-1, SweetSlayer810, velja, Spuffy-Spike-91, you're all very nice people for taking the time to leave a review! Hope you like the new chapter...

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 4 - What A Girl Wants

It was only now, as Buffy pulled away from William, that she realised it was in fact him. Initially she'd just gone for the first male that didn't look like a complete reject, and he did look better now than he had at school, but she hated the fact she might have encouraged him or whatever with that kiss. It had just been some stupid dare type thing, nothing more.

Taking a deep breath, she strutted over to the bar and picked up her purse.

"I think it's time to call it a night" she said, smiling sweetly at the enraged Angel. He'd called her bluff but she'd come out the winner by taking the dare and making him furious - she liked that.

The girls all followed Buffy out of the club, and if looks could kill Faith would have been up for Angel's murder tonight. She hated that she'd let him use her to get at Buffy. She used guys all the time but not the gang, they were better than that, they didn't mess with each other. There was going to be a confrontation about this, but it would wait til tomorrow, right now she was making a stand with her 'sisters'.

William gaped at the four girls as they strutted passed him in a line and out of the door of the Bronze, leaving him facing four young men, none of which looked particularly thrilled by the turn of events. Their girls had all just left because of this incident, and lack of female company did not make for a good night.

"Hi, er, is it too late to play?" William asked innocently, head tilting towards the pool table. Angel's grip tightened around the cue, before he threw it to the ground in front of the new-comer, resisting the urge to pummel him with the wooden implement.

"Let's get out of here" he said in a low voice and his gang obediently followed him out of the door, William's eyes following them all the way as internally he told himself what an idiot he'd been, at the same time congratulating himself on what had happened with Buffy, even if he didn't understand why it had occurred.

"Hey" a voice brought his attention back to the here and now "Where'd they go?" a young brunette girl asked as she pulled herself up onto a stool by the bar.

"Oh, um, are you speaking to me?" William asked as he moved to take the stool beside the girl he'd seen before - the girl he had guessed to be Buffy's little sister.

"I guess" she shrugged at his question "doesn't seem to be anyone else listening to me" she complained, stirring her sisters abandoned Coke around the glass with the straw.

"You're Buffy's sister, yes?" William checked, feeling bad for the girl that seemed to be as outcast from this 'gang' as he was.

"Yeah, Dawn Summers" Dawn introduced herself, holding out a hand for him to shake. She couldn't be more than fifteen he realised, as he took the offered hand, and yet she knew more about the world that she ought to, he could see it in her eyes "And you are?" she asked him, jolting him from his thoughts.

"William Spencer" he told her and she nodded.

"Cool" she said as she looked him over, deciding he wasn't so bad, if not a little geek-ish "Well, I guess I should head home, seeing as the gang have already split" she sighed as she hopped off the stool, popping her gum loudly.

"It's dark out" William pointed out, standing up beside her "perhaps I should walk with you"

"I'm fifteen years old" she snapped angrily "I do not need a babysitter"

"Well" William smiled "why not consider it as a date?" he suggested and Dawn seemed to like that idea a whole lot more. She smiled and nodded her head in agreement. In truth, William had to admit to himself he was walking with her for her safety not her company, but also it might be nice to have someone on his side, someone who understood what is what like to be on the outside of the world people like Buffy and Angel inhabited. He shoved his hands in his pockets and sighed.

"Your sister and her friends don't seem to appreciate my company" he commented as they walked away from the Bronze, Dawn sighed and shook her head.

"It's not just you" she assured him, hooking her arm through his, causing him to smile "Anyone who's not in their little in-crowd gang just isn't worth talking to" she complained with a further sigh.

"Yes, I'm beginning to see that" he nodded as they crossed the street and neared Revello Drive where the Summers lived.

"I won't give up though" Dawn told him "cos when I'm a senior, I'm gonna have a gang that's way better than theirs..." she said firmly and William chuckled at her words. It did sound a little childish but he could see why she felt the way she did.

"You think I'm totally lame, right?" she said as she unhooked her arm from his and stopped walking, hiding her face behind her long hair.

"Not at all" William assured her, smiling as she looked up at him "I think you're very pretty and absolutely charming"

"Thanks" Dawn replied uncharacteristically quietly as she ducked her head again to hide the fact she was blushing "Well, this is my house" she told him a moment later, gesturing to the building they stood outside of.

"It was very nice meeting you Dawn" William said truthfully and she nodded in agreement.

"You too. Maybe I'll see you around" she said as he turned to walk away.

"You can count on it" he smiled as he looked up at the house before walking across the road and into the night.

"Yeah, I'll bet I can" Dawn rolled her eyes but smiled as she watched him walk away. Buffy could do a lot worse, and she had no doubt at all that her sister was the reason this semi-geek wanted so badly to be accepted and cool. She sighed as she went into the house. It was a shame that he didn't stand a chance.

William watched from across the street as Dawn went into the house. She was a sweet girl and he liked her, but not like he liked Buffy. She didn't seem to like him too much yet, though she had kissed him - he would have to find out why tomorrow. For now he contented himself with the fact that at least he'd made one friend tonight, even if it wasn't the one he'd intended to make.

- - - - - - -

**__**

The alarm made Buffy wake with a start and she groaned as she knocked the clock clean off of the night-stand. She really did not feel like going to school today. Okay so the victory over Angel had been glorious last night, but now it was the next day and anything could happen, plus she had to face William.

"It just had to be him, didn't it?" she sighed as she rolled out of bed and set about getting herself ready for school. Of all the guys she could've laid her lips on last night, so many in the Bronze she'd never seen before and never would again, 'but oh no' Buffy sighed to herself as she took her shower 'I have class and beautiful timing' she rolled her eyes, sarcasm dripping from her thoughts as she dried herself off and decided which outfit to wear.

Soon she was in front of her full length mirror, adjusting her dark top and darker jeans, she eyed the selection of makeup on the table and decided if she went for the darker shades she'd only end up looking more like Faith than she already did right now. Nope, no matter how 'dark' she felt she refused to add fuel to Angel's fire about liking her friend. With a determined sigh she whipped off her clothes and started again, pulling on a lighter skirt and a pale top, before brushing her hair and adding a thin layer of make-up.

"Buffy, your ride is here!" Joyce called up the stairs to her older daughter, who yelled back that she'd be just a couple of seconds. True to her word she ambled down the stairs just a moment later, book bag on one shoulder, jacket slung over her arm.

"Y'know if you moved a little more swiftly in the mornings you might even have time for breakfast" Hank commented as she passed by him with a half-smile. She might have laughed or commented if he didn't say it most days.

"Hey Cor" Buffy smiled as she came out of the front door and climbed into the open-top car beside her friend. Willow was already in the back with Faith on the other side and they both nodded a greeting to the final member of their gang.

"Hey Buff! Wait up!" Dawn called as she scrambled out of the front door, hair in disarray, books falling out of her bag and badly applied lipstick across her face.

"Sorry Short-stuff" Faith called as Cordy revved the engine, "No room for a fifth"

With that the car pulled away with Buffy barely acknowledging that her sister was there at all. Dawn sighed with annoyance as she pulled her bag onto her shoulder and straightened her jacket, aiming for a sexy strut as she walked to school. In the back of her mind she wondered what William might think of her attempts to look good today. She smiled at the very thought of him, he was such a nice guy. She shook her head as she wandered towards the high school. He had no idea how futile his attempts were, he stood less chance than she did of being one of the 'cool' people, but hey, it could be entertaining to watch him try.

- - - - - - -

Buffy grimaced as she felt William's eyes on her again. It was her third class of the day, the third hour of William sitting somewhere across the room, eyes on her every few moments. It was slowly driving her crazy! Thankfully she'd managed to get out of the room fast enough and into her next class at just the right time so that he wouldn't get a chance to talk to her. She feared he might ask her about the kiss, she knew she'd have to explain it and it seemed so horrible just to tell him it was a joke.

The bell rang and she was still lost in her thoughts, meaning she didn't get the head start she needed to run again, though truly why she was running she didn't really know. Buffy Summers never ran from anyone, she stood up to them and told what she thought, but everything was different lately and no-one understood...

"Buffy..." she heard his distinct English tone to her left and she sighed as gathered up her papers and books.

"What do you want?" she asked as if she didn't know.

"I was just wondering, perhaps..." he stumbled over his question before finally asking, "Would you like to maybe go out with me tonight?"

"A world of no" she said without looking at him, pulling her books to her chest and hurrying from the room.

"Well, how about tomorrow?" he called desperately behind her.

"No!" she called over her shoulder, hoping he'd give in. There were people in the halls that she would rather not have this conversation in front of.

Buffy headed for her locker to get the books she needed for her next class. This was her first mistake. Her locker was right by the lockers of her best friends and with her friends were their boyfriends. The whole gang bore witness to William practically running after Buffy to ask her for a third time if she wanted to go out sometime.

The girls and the guys all surpressed a laugh and a couple of comments that rose in their throats as Buffy told William to just leave her alone. Even Faith and Angel who'd been locked in a heated and pretty nasty discussion stopped to watch the scene. Buffy slammed her locker door and the gang could no longer hold in the laughter as the blondes personal little lost puppy chased after her again.

"Buffy, last night, when you kissed me..." William said at what Buffy considered to be an unreasonable volume.

"It meant nothing!" she yelled back, "It was a joke, just like you!" she snapped.

So caught up in storming away, Buffy didn't see the people coming the other way until she'd already bumped into them and spilt her books all over the floor. In their hurry to get to class they didn't stop to help her and the halls soon cleared of everyone except Buffy and William, scrambling to pick up the fallen volumes. He knew she only insulted him because people were listening and she had a reputation to uphold. It didn't change the fact that he wanted to be with her anyway he could.

As he handed her the final book, she sighed a slight thankyou and turned to walk away. He was still on his knees behind her when he called;

"Buffy, please, I just..."

"Look, when are you gonna get it!" she almost screamed in sheer frustration down the empty hall "You're not my type, okay?"

"So what is your type?" he asked, getting to his feet "Angel?"

"No, not Angel" she cried frustradely "not anyone in this hellhole!" she gestured around herself "Someone better than that..." her voice grew quieter as she knew she could never explain herself properly "you wouldn't understand...just leave me alone"

She walked away less strong than she'd started out and William climbed to his feet with a defeated sigh. He should really get to class himself, but all he felt like doing was knocking down the nearest wall out of pure frustration. He wasn't a violent person but this girl was driving him crazy. He wished she could just give him some idea of what it was she wanted, because whatever it was he'd become it, anything just so she'd pay attention. It was as he moved to walk away, he noticed something on the ground that she'd left behind, a couple of sheets of paper they hadn't noticed as they'd gathered her books from the floor.

Bending down he picked up the fallen sheets and found them to be covered in pencil drawings, pretty good ones too and all on the same theme. Now he knew what she wanted, and without a thought for the consequences he promised himself he would be that person.

To Be Continued...

A/N2 : Thoughts? Opinions? Review please! :-)


	5. Making The Change

A/N : Thanx for all the reviews! To BuffyandDracoLover - I think the next chapter goes exactly how you thought it should. To spuffy-fan1 - keep reading, I think you'll approve. To Lady Savage - thanx muchly, and I am loving your fic Crushed at the moment, if you hadn;t noticed ;-) To aphelant - I know it sucks that Buffy's a bitch, but I think that just means I've written her pretty much in-character! Hope you like where this story goes. To spikeswife1, sunnyhell, Mita427 - thanks for the encouraging words! Now all of that is done, onto the next chapter...

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 5 - Making A Change

Saturday couldn't come fast enough for William. His mother was going out in the afternoon so he planned to spend the morning shopping and the afternoon transforming himself into what Buffy truly wanted in a man. It was going to be drastic and his mother was going to go completely crazy but she was worth it, Buffy Summers was definitely worth it.

William didn't even try to repress the laughter that rose in his throat as he got up and dressed on Saturday morning. It was completely absurd, he knew it, but he really liked this girl, from the first moment he'd seen her he knew he had to be with her. They'd barely spoken to one another and when she deigned to look at him or share a few words she was never what could be described as friendly, in fact she was barely civil, but somehow that made it all so much more worthwhile. She was a challenge now, which only added to his list of reasons to want her.

"Morning William" his mother greeted as he made his way into the kitchen, "So, do you have anything interesting planned for your weekend?"

"I thought I might head out to the mall" he said casually as he sat down on a stool by the counter and poured milk onto the cereal his mother had left there for him.

"Are you meeting some friends there?" she asked him hopefully, she knew he had trouble making friends back in England and it was the only thing about their move to America that concerned her, that he'd find it even harder here.

"Er, possibly" he lied, knowing how his dear Mum worried about his lack of popularity amongst his class-mates, "I just thought I could use a few new things, clothes and stuff"

"Clothes?" Anne frowned, "How can you possibly need more clothes? I bought you so much when we moved here?"

"Yes, I know" he said quietly into his breakfast, thinking how unimpressed Buffy would be by the fact that his mother had chosen half of the contents of his wardrobe, all those sensible shoes and patterned sweaters, smart shirts and ties.

"I hope you'll not be influenced by some of the unsavoury young people in this neighbourhood" his mother continued as she sat down opposite him and poured a cup of coffee from the pot, "Only yesterday I saw some motley crew in all this black leather and ripped jeans" she made a face at the memory, "They looked like common criminals"

"Yes mother" William nodded, finishing off his cereal and drinking down his orange juice, "If you don't mind I'm going to go now, get what I want before the rush"

"Of course dear" Anne smiled, "Go and enjoy yourself"

William smiled a little himself as he stood and left the room, picking up his jacket on the way through the hall and letting himself out of the house. He sighed as he stepped off the porch and walked down the street. His mother was never going to accept the changes he had in mind for himself. If he went ahead with this he'd probably give her an aneurysm!

As he walked along, he took a piece of paper from his pocket that bore the image of what he wanted to be. Buffy's dream date, drawn by her own fair hand. A faceless, mystery man...

'A mystery man?' William smiled to himself, 'Now that idea has potential...'

- - - - - - -

"What are you doing?" Dawn asked her sister as she stood in the doorway of Buffy's bedroom and watched her throw her belongings around.

"Scaling Mount Everest" the blonde said sarcastically still obviously searching for some mystery item, "Oh for God sake where are they?" she sighed frustradely.

'More than one thing' Dawn noted as she dared to take a step over the threshold into that area of the house that she was hardly ever permitted to go.

'You are now entering the Crazy Blonde Zone' the younger girl smiled to herself as she watched Buffy search some more.

"What did you lose?" she asked.

"Like it's any of your business" Buffy snapped, turning slightly and seeing that Dawn was just past the doorway, "and did I say you could come in to my room?"

"Whatever!" the brunette snapped back, "Just thought you might want some help is all" she said grumpily, folding her arms over her chest and turning to stomp away.

"Dawn!" Buffy called behind her, making the younger girl turn back sharply. Buffy sighed walking over to the girl and pulling her into the room by her arm before closing the door, "If I tell you something you have to swear not to breathe a word to anyone, okay?" she said seriously.

"It's drugs isn't it?" Dawn gasped, "Or is it....eew, is it something battery-operated that you bought after you dumped Angel...?" she asked, all kinds of explanations for Buffy's secrecy running through her mind.

"Dawn!" Buffy snapped, angry and frustatred at her sister and the disturbing way her mind worked, "It's nothing to do with drugs or sex or anything, and like I'd tell you about it if I had any of that stuff anyway!"

"So what is it?" the younger girl asked in a low voice. Buffy sighed.

"I can't find some pages from my sketch book" she admitted and Dawn couldn't help but giggle.

"You're this wound up over drawings?" she frowned, "What have you been drawing? Or shouldn't I ask?" she raised an eyebrow and Buffy gave her a disgusted look in return.

"How did a sister of mine end up with such a one-track mind?" she asked rhetorically, shaking her head, "The point is not what the sketches are of, which by the way is nothing like porn, it's the fact that I drew them in the first place. If the guys found out I was into art and stuff..."

"What is it with you and their opinion Buffy?" Dawn asked her, continuing before she had a chance to reply, "I mean, I know you like to be popular and you know I'd love to be the same, but you really think you wouldn't be if they find out you like to draw?"

"Do you know what Cordy and Faith say about Cassie Newton? And all the other girls who take Art class and write poetry and stuff. They think they're weirdos and freaks" she explained. Now it was Dawns turn to sigh, as she stood up to leave the room.

"You have to work out what you want Buffy" she said, sounding far too wise for her age, "You can't have everything"

Buffy laid back on her bed and stared at the ceiling. Maybe Dawn was right, although at fourteen years old, what did the girl really know about the world or anything at all? All Buffy was certain of was that she wasn't ready for her friends to dismiss her yet. She might have cut her ties with Angel in most ways, but the gang were still her friends and she belonged in their group. She wasn't prepared for that to change yet.

'There's only one thing I want to change' she thought to herself as she closed her eyes and daydreamed of the man in those drawings she really should look for again later. She smiled at the images that rolled lazily around in her head. He would change her life forever, and that kind of change she could handle, she only wished it would really happen, in somewhere other than her dreams.

- - - - - - -

William barely knew where to begin at the mall. It didn't help that he'd only been there twice before and both times had been with is mother. He'd followed her around several older women's clothes stores and then when she'd finally declared it to be his turn they had frequented only what mother described as 'sensible' clothes stores. He had not been permitted to choose items from the same stores as other young men of his own age but it really hadn't bothered him all that much before. Now it mattered, but he didn't know where to begin.

Two hours after arriving at the mall and William had not gone into one shop. He decided that either the other shoppers or the assistants were just too intimidating in each and every one and he knew if they asked him if he needed any help he just wouldn't know what to say. So here he sat in the food court, a cup of coffee and a half eaten sandwich on the table in front of him, wondering how, if he was so intimidated by sales assistants, he was ever going to get Buffy to take him seriously.

"William?" a voice said to his left and he turned in his seat to see a younger brunette version of the very girl he was thinking of.

"Dawn" he smiled, "How are you?"

"Fine" she nodded, sliding into the seat opposite him without invitation, "You?"

"Fine" he replied in kind before asking, "Are you here with you sister?" his eyes wandering all around the area to see if Buffy was there.

"Yeah, right" Dawn rolled her eyes sarcastically, "Like she's ever seen with me in public by choice"

"Oh, yes, of course" William nodded, feeling almost as bad for Dawn as he felt for himself. He watched her staring into his coffee and mentally hit himself, "I'm sorry, did you want anything to drink or eat?" he offered and she smiled as his politeness but declined the offer. It was only as he declared he was no longer hungry and pushed the plate away from him that he realised one of Buffy's drawings that he'd take with him was still on the table. It had been half covered by the plate before but now it was in full view of Buffy's sister.

"Hey, what's that?" she asked, before he had a chance to stuff it back in his pocket.

"It's nothing, just a drawing" he shrugged.

Dawn sighed.

"What is it with people and drawings today?" she asked the table as she drummed her fingers on it.

"Whatever do you mean?" he asked and she explained how Buffy was 'totally spazzing' over her lost art work.

"I mean, anyone would think it was this majorly big deal" she rolled her eyes, "Buffy seems to think her friends will freak if they find out she's all Art-Girl and stuff. She's weird that way"

William smiled, despite the fact the girl of his dreams was being insulted. Dawn was a riddle. She could be such an adult when the mood struck her, and other times she was just a childish little girl.

"So, you here for a reason?" she asked him when silence fell again.

"Er, well..." he stumbled on what he meant to say and Dawn interrupted.

"It's okay, you don't have to tell me" she assured him, somewhat sadly, "It's not like it's any of my business. I just thought if you wanted someone to keep you company or whatever..." her voice trailed away and William felt so bad for her. She just wanted to be popular, wanted, needed for any reason. She didn't want to be Buffy's little sister, she just wanted to be Dawn Summers. She wanted as purpose in her life. Well, she was about to get one.

"Dawn, do you think you could help me with something?" he asked with a smile. The girl looked at him strangely before she answered;

"Sure, what d'ya need?" she asked.

"Well, first" he said in a half whisper leaning across the table toward her and encouraging her to do the same, "you have to promise me that you can keep a secret..."

Several hours later...

"I still can't believe my sister drew this" Dawn repeated for the fifth time as she sat outside the changing cubicle of a men's clothing store, staring at the piece of paper William had given her, "And I can't believe that you want to become this"

"Why is it so hard to believe?" said William's voice from behind the curtain as he changed into the twenty-seventh outfit he and Dawn had picked out.

"Well, no offence" she began, "but this is supposed to be like the coolest guy ever and you're kind of..."

"Not?" he guessed what she meant but was too nice to say, and he was right of course, but she didn't get a chance to tell him that...

"It's not your fault, you're just..." at this point in her sentence the curtain opened to reveal William looking nothing like the man who went into that cubicle at all.

"You're just..." Dawn repeated, completely in awe at the transformation, "...incredibly hot in that outfit" she finished, before suddenly realising what she'd said and clamping her hand over mouth. Both she and William were going bright red with embarrassment by now but she had to admit he did look good and he had to admit he liked the fact she thought so. He turned to look at himself in the full length mirror to his right and was somewhat shocked by the difference these clothes made. Sensible shoes were replaced with black Doc Marten boots, smart trousers by tight black jeans and smart shirt by tight black T-shirt with a red-shirt over the top, all topped off with Dawn's personal favourite item, the leather duster.

"You promise I don't look like an idiot" he looked nervously at Dawn who smiled back at him and shook her head.

"You really don't look like an idiot" she told him, "You look incredible"

"This stuff will cost a fortune" he realised with a sigh, "but Buffy's worth it"

"I guess" Dawn shrugged non-comitally, "but y'know none of this is going to do any good"

"But you said it could work" he protested, recalling what she'd said when he first imparted his plan to her.

"I said I could help you be Buffy's dream guy like this picture" she reminded him, waving the piece of paper in his face, "The clothes are only a part of that. The main thing is gonna cost a lot more cash and take a hell of a lot of work"

William winced as she held up the drawing and pointed at what she meant.

"You're right. I'm gonna have to start saving" he sighed, "Cos it's looks like I need a motorcycle"

To Be Continued...

A/N2 : Please let me know what you think by reviewing! :-)  
For anyone that's interested I am also updating 'Our Little Secret' tonight.


	6. Making Progress

A/N : Thanx to BuffyandDracoLover, spikeswife1, spuffyfan-1, Mita427, wicked-angel3, kate, James lee, for the latest reviews. I hope you continue to like the story. Honestly, 'Spike' is on his way soon. Hopefully in the meantime you'll like the new character introduced in this chapter... ;-)  
_(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)_

Chapter 6 - Making Progress

Two weeks had passed since William & Dawn's trip to the mall. The complete outfit that they'd bought hung in the back of his closet, of no use what-so-ever until he could get the other piece of the puzzle - the motorcycle. He'd counted up all his spare cash, but there was no way he was going to afford a decent ride without his mother noticing a hole in his college fund.

At school he watched Buffy as she chatted with her friends and hated the fact that she completely ignored him at every opportunity. Willow would sometimes say hello to him, but never when she was with 'the gang' and the guys continued to throw dirty looks at him whenever he walked passed.

William was miserable about it all. He was such an idiot, thinking he could just change his clothes and Buffy would love him, the motorcycle part was just as important for her dream man to have. Looking back he admitted to himself he was blocking out the part of the equation that may cause him injury and taking the safe route, but Dawn had been right. Buffy wanted the whole package, she deserved it and he'd find a way to do this. All he had to do was get his hands on some cash and soon...

"Hey, English-boy" a voice called and William glanced across to see Xander walking towards him, "I need to talk to you"

"Okay" he answered uneasily, closing the book he'd been studying, as the leather-jacketed boy sat down on the wall beside him, "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"I got this English paper to write, somethin' about a poem or whatever" he shrugged not really caring.

"You wanted my help with your homework?" William ventured, unsure as to what Xander was getting at. He was a little worried when the brunette laughed.

"I don't want help" he explained, "I'm talkin' papers for paper" he said with a smile, William looked confused and Xander rolled his eyes, dropping his voice lower, "Essays for cash?" he made it clearer and the other boy frowned a little.

What he was being asked to do was wrong, it was cheating, and he could probably get into all kinds of trouble for it...on the other hand, he'd be getting paid for something he found simple enough to do, and the more cash he had the quicker he could get that motorcycle he needed to win Buffy over...

"So, we got a deal, Will?" the brunette asked him and William smiled.

"Yes, I do believe we have" he agreed.

- - - - - - - -

William yawned and checked his watch. By the light of the lamp, the face told him it was past midnight and he groaned as he realised how long he'd been sitting at his desk, reading and writing for his own homework as well as some for Xander, Andrew and even Angel. He'd been doing all their trickier assignments for the past month, being paid a pittance for each and every paper, but it was all adding up and he knew with just a few more pieces, he'd have earned enough for the motorcycle.

Rubbing his eyes, he turned off the lamp and moved over towards his bed, removing his clothes on the way. He fell onto the mattress and sighed as he closed his eyes. Tonight was no different to any other and, behind his eyes, William saw Buffy. She'd smiled at him today, for the briefest of moments but it made his heart soar. He didn't know why, frankly he didn't care. Maybe the guys had told her he was a decent person because of the favour he was doing for them, but he doubted they'd want anyone to know of their academic difficulties. Perhaps Willow had put in a good word for him, she was always kind to him, well, when the gang wasn't there anyway. Or possibly Dawn had pleaded his case, though the poor girl was barely more popular with those people than he was.

'Dearest Dawn' William smiled to himself. She was such a sweet girl, in many ways like her sister only nicer to him at the moment. She'd make a wonderful girlfriend for some lucky boy one day, but to him she was the younger sister he wished he could have had.

- - - - - - - -

"Another day, another crappy homework assignment" Faith sighed as she exited fourth period with her friends.

"Tell me about it" Buffy agreed, "I mean, why do we even need to know this stuff anyway?" she said as she scanned over the sheet in her hand, full of questions about the Civil War that required ridiculously long answers. It was going to take hours.

"This doesn't look so bad" Angel grinned, looking over at Xander, "What do ya say Xand?"

"Not a problem" his friend smiled back, as the girls shared a bemused look and the two guys silently agreed to explain as the gang headed outside.

"We kind of don't do the homework" Xander told them as the girls sat down on a nearby bench. The boy climbed up to sit on the back of the seat with his feet between Buffy and Faith.

"But I've seen you hand in your papers?" Buffy frowned, "So how...?" she didn't finish her question as Faith started to laugh loudly.

"You snakes in the grass" the brunette girl chuckled, looking between Xander and Angel, who stood to the side, who both began to laugh too, "These two have some brainiac doing their assignments for them" she said to Buffy who eyed the pair with distaste. They pulled scams all the time but if they were threatening a guy into doing their school work, that was just kind of pathetic.

"So come on, tell us" she snapped, "Who are you idiots beating on to do your work?"

"Beating on?" Xander looked disgusted, "Come on Buff, you know us better than that...we just pay the guy"

"Then you really are idiots" Faith continued to laugh as she got up and walked away shaking her head. Angel opted to go after her and Buffy looked up at the boy who remained beside her.

"So, you gonna tell me who it is?" she asked him. Xander gave her a goofy grin.

"Your very own little lost puppy dog" he told her, pointing across the way to where William sat engrossed in a book as always.

Buffy's eyes followed her friends finger and she sighed when she saw who he meant. William had been such an annoyance to her when he'd first arrived at Sunnydale High, but these past few weeks, since he'd stopped constantly asking her out and bugging her, she found she didn't mind so much when he smiled at her on the way to class, or sometimes stared across the room at her. It was sort of nice to know someone liked you that much, and since he was less obvious these days the gang had more or less stopped teasing her about it.

"I'm gonna go find Cordy" she half heard Xander say as he jumped down from the back of the bench and wandered off. Buffy's eyes were still fixed on William though for a long time there she wasn't really seeing him, her mind was somewhere else entirely as she considered this guy.

"Hey" Buffy was almost as startled by her own voice as William was as she found herself standing next to him now.

"H-hello" he replied nervously, wondering why she was suddenly standing there talking to him, and thanking God that he went to the bother of putting his lenses in today instead of wearing his glasses.

"I just wanted to..." Buffy began, internally asking herself why on earth she was doing this, "I heard from the guys that you do their homework for them" she said eventually, "and I just wanted to tell you, you shouldn't let them make a fool out of you, okay?"

William only nodded in reply, afraid of saying something stupid if he actually opened his mouth.

"Well, that was all" Buffy shrugged, adjusted her sunglasses, and turned to walk away. William suddenly decided he had to say something to her, she had actually been pleasant to him after all!

"Thankyou, Buffy" he called behind her and she turned back just briefly to smile at him. He smiled back, feeling that today anything might be possible. He didn't know how right he was until he turned back and ran straight into Angel.

"Will, buddy" he smiled almost evilly and William involuntarily shuddered.

"History again?" the English boy guessed and Angel slapped him on the back as he walked with him and spoke in a low voice.

"Keep the volume down, boy" he reminded him, "I don't object to paying for a service but the deal was we keep the profile low, remember?"

"I remember" William nodded once as Angel checked the area for people and slipped a piece of paper to the other boy.

"By Friday" he said sharply, "Two versions, usual rate"

"I understand" came the reply with a further nod as the brunette walked away with his usual air of superiority, straightening the collar of his leather jacket as he went and winking at some random girls.

William sighed and shook his head as he looked over the paper. 'Simple enough' he thought to himself, 'and two copies at the usual rate...' he smiled as he headed for the library to make a start during his free period. If his calculations were correct, he should be able to go shopping for a motorcycle this weekend.

- - - - - - - -

Saturday came around again, and it couldn't come fast enough for William. Almost two months since his original plan to win Buffy over and finally it looked as if he was getting close. Dressing in his most 'normal American teen' outfit, he headed out to a place he'd found in the phone book called Rippers. It was a garage in the less-respectable side of town, that bought and sold cars and bikes and fixed them too. William was not entirely sure he liked the idea of buying a second hand bike from a man named 'Ripper' but then he thought of Buffy and it was all entirely worth it.

Already he'd shared smiles with Buffy on three occasions and there had been that glorious moment on Monday morning when she'd come over and talked to him, warning him against making deals with those who were supposed to be her friends.

William soon arrived at the garage and his eyes took in the scene. A courtyard area held a couple of cars that looked like they'd fall to pieces if you went over 50mph, and the main building looked like a strong gust of wind might reduce it to debris, still, it was the only place around where William seemed guaranteed to get a good deal on a bike. Taking a deep breath he headed for the front of the building and cautiously went inside.

As far as William was aware he'd never been in a garage that looked quite like this, in fact he wasn't so sure he'd ever been in one at all. But now here he was staring at a mans legs as they stuck out from beneath a jacked-up car, one black booted foot tapping along to a rock tune that rang out from the battered radio on a nearby shelf.

"Er, excuse me" William's voice sounded ridiculously polite and uncharacteristically loud in such a rough setting. The noise was sudden enough to cause the person under the car to bang his head and curse colourfully as he dragged himself out into the open.

"You stupid bloody pillock!" he swore at William as he jumped to his feet, wrench still in hand, and the boy found himself backing up quite speedily.

"I'm terribly sorry" he apologised profusely, "I...I just wanted to...I wondered if you might help me..." he rambled nervously and the man who appeared to be Ripper sighed as he wiped his hands on an oily rang and moved to turn the radio down to a less blaring level.

"Don't tell me" Ripper smirked, looking the boy up and down, "You've got a flat and mummy wouldn't like it if you got grease on your best shirt"

William was quite offended by this and looked indignantly at the older man before him.

"I am here on business" he announced, "I have money to spend on a bike and I planned to spend it here, but I can go elsewhere if..."

"Calm down, mate" Ripper held up his hands in mock surrender, "Just don't get a lot of your sort in 'ere is all" he commented, "You got a name, son?" he asked next.

"William Spencer" the boy said politely extending his hand.

"Okay, Will" the man nodded, taking the offered hand and shaking it firmly, "You can just call me Ripper, okay?"

William nodded as he took back his hand and looked disdainfully at the grease and dirt on it.

"Get used to it" he heard as he looked up, "Cos if you plan on buying and running a bike, your hands are gonna get dirtier than that...I take it this is your first bike?"

"Yes" William admitted, feeling a little stupid and very out of place.

Ripper nodded and smiled to himself. He'd seen this kind of thing before, hell it was how he'd turned out the way he had, for the love of a woman.

"What's her name?" he asked casually as he could.

"Buffy" William blurted out without thinking, trying not to blush like some nancy boy as the older man tried not to laugh.

"Tell you what, Will" the man sighed, patting him on the back and leading him across the room, "Seein' as your a fellow Brit, and this is all to win the love of some fair lady, let's see if we can't cut you a deal..."

To Be Continued...

A/N2 : Review please and let me know what you think! :-)  
[More 'Our Little Secret' should be up in the next couple of days!]


	7. With A Little Help From My Friends

A/N : Thanx to the latest reviewers; spuffyfan-1, wickedangel3, magckrules2004, aphelant, velja, i luv spike, electricgurl. This chapter turns William into Spike - Enjoy! :-)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 7 - With A Little Help From My Friends

It was six weeks since William had first walked into Rippers garage with a wad of bills in his pocket and a nervous expression on his face. Now, here he was, sitting on the concrete floor of the building wearing a pair of overalls that were covered in grease as he worked on various pieces of his bike that were spread around.

Ripper had cut him the deal that he'd promised, giving him a good price on a beautiful piece of machinery,****that had in the past been his own transportation. The older man had given William a pair of overalls and a place to keep and work on the bike that was in need of some repair in the beginning. Since then a few things had gone wrong as William learnt to ride it, and that had been a complicated process in itself. Learning to control a machine like this was not something you could learn in an afternoon, and there were several bruises and wounds he'd had to find ways to hide from his mother.

Dawn was the only person other than Ripper that knew the entire plan of how William was to be transformed and sweep Buffy off her feet. She'd come to the garage a few times when he'd been working on the bike and she claimed to like Ripper too, since he made her laugh. The younger Summers had also watched as William had originally tried and failed to handle the bike on a piece of land just outside of town. He always felt extra self-conscious when she was there, but it was like a part of Buffy being there, supporting him in his endeavour.

It was last week when he'd had a really good run, Ripper had shown him a few cool moves and Dawn had piped up that she'd like to ride with William. At first he refused completely to have her on the bike with him, frightened for her safety, but Ripper assured him it would be okay 'if the kid wears a helmet and holds on tight'

'Besides' Dawn had commented, 'you're gonna want to take Buffy on this thing, you have to get used to passengers'

William had given in and let her ride with him, finding once he got into what he was doing he quite forgot she was there. Of course, he knew it would be totally different if Buffy was there.

"You clean that for much longer you'll wear the bloody thing away" Ripper commented and William realised he'd been so lost in his thoughts he'd been polishing the same spot for the past ten minutes.

"I was just thinking" he told the man, "Dawn told me Buffy and her friends were going to the Bronze on Saturday night, some huge event...it'd be perfect for my 'debut'" he air-quoted, frowning when he realised he'd picked up the habit from the young brunette girl whom he'd seen so much of lately.

"You'll do fine, mate" Ripper assured him, as he lit a cigarette and watched the boy work as he'd taught him, "The way you ride that bike, you're a natural, almost put me to shame. 'Sides, the little girl believes in you"

"Dawn is sweet" William nodded, concentrating on the bike, "but it's Buffy that really concerns me. I've done all this for her and in a few days time I could find out it was completely not worth it"

"Do you love her?" Ripper asked and William suddenly looked up, slightly shocked by the question. He liked Buffy a lot, he was sure of that, but could it be real love? To do all that he was doing though. Would he do all that, change himself completely, if he didn't love her?

"Yes, I believe I do" he said eventually with a smile.

"Then even if she laughs in your face" Ripper said, kneeling down beside him, "She'll have been worth all the effort, right?"

William slowly nodded, knowing it was true.

"Y'know" he said after a moment, "if I was half as cool as you I don't think I'd be half so nervous"

At that, Ripper only blew out the smoke from his cigarette, and laughed.

- - - - - - -

Today was the day. As soon as William woke up he started to panic, but nothing could go wrong, he knew that. His mother was going out for the afternoon with a new friend and probably wouldn't be back til late. Dawn was to arrive shortly after Anne's departure to help him get ready and then he was headed to the Bronze. Somehow the youngest Summers was to make sure Buffy was in the parking lot when he was about to get there so she would see his spectacular arrival.

The morning dragged along until finally lunch was had and then Anne said goodbye to her son and left the house. William leaned back against the front door and sighed. 'Any minute now...' he didn't even manage to finish the thought as a knock on the door made him jump.

"I waited around the corner until I saw your Mom leave" Dawn said as soon as William opened the door and let her into the house. He was silent the whole time, and Dawn could tell it was because he was nervous. She was a little worried herself about how all this was going to work out, but she kept smiling and promising it would be fine.

"I had kind of a brainwave" she told her friend as they headed into the living room and she sat down on the sofa without a care.

"Why don't I like the sound if this?" William sighed as he sat down beside her and watched her hunt through the contents of her bag.

"Would you just trust me?" she stopped briefly to look over at him and roll her eyes "I already told you we have to do something with your hair so..." the last word hung in the air as she produced a small box and handed it to him.

"Oh God" he groaned as he read the name of the product and looked at the picture on the box of a person with almost white-blond hair!

"Come on Will, blond hair will look so great on you" Dawn pleaded with him. She had to try and cover for the fact that she'd meant to buy black dye and accidentally picked up the wrong thing when Andrew came into the store and caught her eye. She really wasn't going to tell William about that.

"My mother will go apoplectic" he sighed, leaning back on the sofa with his eyes closed. Dawn looked puzzled.

"Okay, I don't even know what that is" she admitted "but if it's bad I have it covered" she assured him with a nod as he opened his eyes and looked over at her questioningly, "This stuff is totally temporary, disappears in four to six washes" she pointed at the writing on the box that said just that and William rolled his eyes at her.

"Well, I guess I know what I'll be doing tomorrow...and here I thought it was a girls excuse for staying at home on the weekend"

Dawn giggled at that before turning more serious.

"Well if you stood up to your Mom and weren't so freaky about not wanting anyone to know this mystery guy is you we wouldn't have so much of a problem" she pointed out, shifting the blame from herself onto him.

"I already told you, Buffy wants mysterious" he snapped, before his voice dropped along with his expression "besides if she really knew it was me she'd just laugh"

"Doubtful" Dawn snorted into a laugh, remembering how good William looked in those clothes they'd got for him before and how well he could handle the bike he'd bought - Buffy was going to be blown away! "But still, if you're going to be a different person there's two other things we need" she told the young man next to her "First you're the only guy around here with a British accent"

"Already taken care of" he grinned, "I may not be too good at your average American intonation but I can sound different, she wont guess it's me" he'd been listening carefully to the way Ripper at the garage spoke. He had a rough and much cooler accent than William's refined one but after spending so much time talking with him, the boy was sure he could imitate it quite well.

"Okay that leaves the second thing" Dawn told him.

"Which is?" he prompted when she fell silent, slightly worried that they'd forgotten a major point.  
"You don't have a name" she told him simply.

"Oh, yes" William frowned, completely deflated, "Now why didn't I think of that" he sighed as he stood up and looked decidedly like he was going to start pacing.

"Don't panic" Dawn said, getting up from her seat too, grabbing his arm to stop him from moving "just go fix your hair and change your clothes and I'll hang around here and try and think of something" she told him "Any problems just yell, okay?"

William smiled down at her and nodded.

"Thankyou for all your help Dawn" he said sincerely "you've been a good friend to me"

"No problem" she smiled, trying not to blush. Okay so William wasn't the coolest guy in the world, but he was kinda cute and fun to hang with, and he'd just complimented her - a compliment from a guy was something special. "Now just go, I wanna see what you look like" she said, giving him a shove towards the stairs. As he ascended to his room, Dawn flopped back down on the couch and grabbed a magazine from underneath the coffee table. She rolled her eyes as she realised it was most definitely William's mothers and that she would not find anything interesting to read in it at all. Popping her gum, she reached for the remote and flicked on the TV. Just because she was fifteen, that didn't make her too old for cartoons, right?

Upstairs William had showered and changed into his black jeans. He left his top off as he read the back of the box of hair dye and glanced up at himself in the bathroom mirror. It was true to say he'd never been particular fond of his natural hair colour and style but what Dawn was asking him, or more like telling him, to do was a little more outrageous than he'd thought about going.

'Oh well' he thought to himself, 'for the love of Buffy...' as he readied himself to dye his hair an obscene shade of blond.

Later there was hair gel and the rest of his clothes, the black T-shirt, red shirt, and finally his boots and leather duster. Standing before the full length mirror, he hardly recognised himself, but he did like what he saw, he only hoped Buffy would be as impressed as she ought to be.

"So, er, what do you think?" he asked nervously as he stood in the doorway to the living room. Dawn was so engrossed by the TV that she hadn't even heard him come down the stairs. She'd helped herself to a packet of popcorn from the kitchen and she almost choked on the piece in her mouth as she finally turned her head and saw William standing there, looking nothing like the boy who'd gone up those stairs a short while ago.

"Wow" she breathed, eyes wide as saucers. She thought he'd looked good before, but now, there just were not words for how gorgeous he truly was.

"Well, say something" he urged her, very uncomfortable just having her stare at him with her mouth hanging open like a fish.

"I don't know what to say" she admitted, "You look amazing"

It was all William could do not to blush at her words, and the way she looked at him was highly disconcerting.

"Er, so, now we just need a name" Dawn realised as she shook her head to return to her normal state, a state in which she was not drooling and looking like a moron "It has to be something totally cool" she told her friend a he sat down in the armchair nearby and she flipped off the TV.

"Any ideas?" he asked hopefully, confessing he really hadn't given the matter any thought at all.

"Well, Brad Pitt is cool" she considered "but you don't look like a Brad" she realised with a frown "How about Johnny? Or Orlando...it was just a suggestion" she added grumpily as she saw the unimpressed look that settled on his features.

"There are millions of names in the world, this is going to be impossible, isn't it?" he moaned, unable to believe that something so important had slipped his mind - he had to have a name!

"Well, maybe it shouldn't be an ordinary name" Dawn considered, looking excited by the prospect of thinking up something completely outrageous that Will could use for a name "Like there was this gang where my cousin lives and the leader was nick-named Razor" she told him.

"Razor?" he echoed with some distaste and the girl nodded.

"He liked blades and..." she realised maybe the name wasn't so perfect when he continued to look at her in a more and more disgusted way "well, he wasn't exactly a nice guy" she admitted.

"Anything less blood-thirsty?" William asked her with a slightly amused expression now, she really was trying to help, and Dawn was very entertaining even when she was scaring him with her strange knowledge of the world.

"Er...oh, I got it, Spike!" she suddenly yelled with excitement. William was back to the distasteful look.

"As in the dog from Tom & Jerry?" he asked her with a frown, at which Dawn rolled her eyes again.

"No, as in your hair" she told him "Since you put the dye and the gel on it it's kinda sticking up" his hand went straight to his head which was not necessarily the best plan ever and Dawn realised maybe telling a guy with an image problem that his hair was sticking up wasn't quite the confidence boost he needed "plus Spike could also mean railroad" she said quickly "and there was this guy once on the TV who got this railroad spike and shoved it through this other guys head..."

"Does your mother know you watch this sort of thing?" William interrupted, momentarily forgetting his hair and Dawn took the opportunity to get to her feet and drag him up too, getting his hands away from his head so she could fix the damage he'd done.

"That's not the issue" she told him as she straightened out his hair for him "Point is, it has violent tendencies without being totally obviously 'bloodthirsty'" she air-quoted the word he'd used before "and y'know" she grinned, taking a step back to study him "some girls might think there was another reason for a nick-name like Spike..." she trailed off, looking away and trying not to giggle too much.

"I don't think I..." William frowned, not understanding til he saw the look on the young girls face and the direction in which her eyes were travelling "Dawn!" he half-yelled in shock.

"Sorry" the girl put her hands up in mock-surrender and backed up a couple of steps "but those jeans are kinda tight"

William warily eyed his lower apparel, wondering what on earth he was getting himself into. Dawn felt bad for making him even more self-conscious than he already was.

"Look don't worry about it" she said, making him look at her "You look good and Buffy's going to love you, especially on that bike"

"It's getting late" William breathed out slowly, trying to stay calm, he had to be cool, that was the point! "I guess it's now or never"

Dawn nodded, as she stepped towards him.

"Good luck" she smiled, reaching up to kiss his cheek briefly, both of them trying not to go pink afterwards "I'm gonna go home before _she_ gets suspicious, the girls are all meeting at our house before we head to the Bronze" she rolled her eyes as she headed for the front door and let herself out "See ya later, Spike" she called over shoulder and he smiled at her use of his new name.

"Bye, Dawn" he called back right before the door clicked shut and he headed into the hall. Eyeing himself in the mirror there, he took a final deep breath.

"Well, here goes nothing..."

To Be Continued...

A/N2 : Next chapter; Buffy meets 'Spike' for the first time. In the meantime, please review and let me know what you think so far! :-)


	8. Cool Rider

A/N : Wow, this story suddenly got more popular than ever before, I guess because William just got all Spike-ish! lol. Thanx for all the wicked-cool reviews; Soulful-Spikes-True-Love, spikeswife1, Mita427, lindsay, Slayer rock chick, CraZy4SpikE09, i luv spike, spuffy-fan-1, sunnyhell, sPIKEaNDmE, Anyanka0705, electricgurl, Scarlet Ibis, velja, wicked-angel03 - glad you all like the fic so much! And yeah, spikeswife1, I know I screwed up with the blond dye/bleach thing but it was kinda necessary for the story...it's a new wonder product that you can wash out, okay? ;-) Hope you like this chapter!  
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 8 - Cool Rider

"I am so in the mood for this party tonight" Cordelia gushed as she flicked through the many dresses in her friends closet, in an attempt to find the remaining girl something to wear.

"Should be a blast" Faith agreed as she watched Willow finish working on Buffy's hair. The blonde had been down since the Summer and although she'd been a little better of late she wasn't her usual happy self yet. The girls were determined to get the old Buffy back. They knew it was totally over between her and Angel, that much was evident by the amount of time he spent with Faith, but still the leader of their gang was much less a leader and much more a distant follower of late and the girls thought just maybe if they could make her look good enough then she'd feel good too. Then hopefully they would all have fun at the party and she'd be better.

"What do you think Buff?" Willow smiled as she encouraged her friend to look in the mirror and Buffy nodded that she liked the way her hair had been curled and pinned up on her head, leaving just a few lose strands hanging down to frame her face.

"And I think we have a winner in the outfit scheme of things" Cordy announced, bringing out a little black number guaranteed to get Buffy some male attention if nothing else.

"What's the big deal with this party, you guys?" Buffy eyed them all suspiciously, and they looked at the floor and each other to avoid her gaze. They'd been rumbled. They'd been too obvious in this whole 'you must enjoy the party' thing.

For once in their lives, the girls were pleased to see Dawn who came crashing into the room, allowing them to escape from explanation for now at least.

"Hey guys" the young brunette grinned, "So, we're partying tonight, right?"

"You are so not coming along!" Buffy said sternly as she took her dress from Cordelia and headed for the adjoining bathroom to change.

"Mom says I can, so..." she stuck out her tongue as an end to her sentence. Dawn's highly original and adult response was received with a huff from her sister and giggles from the other girls who still thought she was completely lame despite the fact her entrance had delayed a rather awkward conversation.

"I think we're gonna have a great time tonight girls" Dawn grinned, "don'tcha think so?"

"Oh yes Dawnie" Cordelia mocked her, "We're gonna have a super-fun time!" she clapped her hands together, bouncing on her toes and grinning in a very over-the-top manner, making Faith burst out laughing as Dawn looked like she might cry and ran from the room.

Sometimes the littlest Summers wondered why she wanted to be one of them, but she knew that was just the way it was when you were popular, you had to make fun of your friends sometimes, at least it seemed that way to her. Still, Willow was always much nicer and no matter how cool William was sometimes he was always really sweet too.

Poor William. Tonight was very much make or break for him, and Dawn had this nasty feeling, given the mood her sister had been in lately, that it could well be the latter. William would be at Rippers by now, she realised as she checked her watch, and there he'd wait until she called his cellphone. He wouldn't pick up, it was just a signal so he could start the journey to the Bronze and with any luck he would arrive almost the same moment that Buffy and the gang did. Dawn had more than one plan to slow down or speed up her sisters arrival if need be, there wasn't one thing they hadn't thought of. It could be that after tonight William was accepted into the gang and it was Dawn's greatest wish that the same could happen for her. Right now, after what had just happened with her and the girls, she doubted it ever would.

- - - - - - -

"Come on Short-stuff!" Faith yelled angrily, as Cordelia revved the engine of the car, "Quit messing around and get in the damn car!" she was the least accepting of Dawn out of the whole gang and hated having to wait around. As kids, Faith and Buffy had never really gotten along and it had only been as they grew older they developed respect for each other and later a friendship. Still, Dawn reminded Faith of how Buffy used to be - a whiny little brat, and that's why she disliked her so much.

"Come on Dawn!" Buffy called with annoyance from the back of the vehicle, as the girl punched two more buttons on her phone before climbing into the car between Willow and her sister.

"It was an important call" she said grumpily, stuffing the phone into her bag and Cordelia rolled her eyes. Like Buffy's sister knew anyone worth calling!

- - - - - - -

"Looks like I'm on" William sighed as he stuffed the ringing cellphone back into his pocket and mounted his bike right outside of Rippers garage. The man himself stood along aside and smiled.

"You'll knock her bloody socks off" he grinned, wiping grease from his hands. He really did have every faith in the boy, he'd put in so much effort, he couldn't possibly fail now. William smiled to himslef as he pulled on the large sunglasses to hide his face and revved up the machine beneath him. As the engine growled into life a similar animalistic feeling shot through his body.

"Fella could get used to this" he realised.

He was Spike now, with the confidence to do anything, he realised as he headed off, tearing up the road as he went. Like this, he felt powerful, almost immortal, helped by knowing that he was about to blow Buffy away. He cried out at the moon with a grin on his face as he tipped the bike up on it's back wheel and sped towards the Bronze.

- - - - - - -

"Dawn! What the hell are you doing?!" Buffy yelled to her sister, the only person left in the car now, scrabbling along the back seat.

"I dropped...something" she lied, pretending to search the back for the car for some mystery item "Wait up, I'll just be a sec" she urged, hoping for once that the gang might actually hold on for a minute, if they went inside before...

"What's that sound?" Willow's brow furrowed as she strained her ears and looked around. It was like a humming, maybe an engine, getting closer.

"Got it" Dawn grinned as she climbed out of the car, glad to see the gang of girls still standing there waiting for her, eyes and ears alert to track the sound they heard and try to identify where it was coming from, not knowing that Dawn knew precisely what they were hearing.

"Look" Cordelia pointed into the relative darkness as a blinding light shone through, soon to be revealed as the head lamp of a beautiful and dangerous looking motorcycle. On top of the machine was a figure in black and a flash of red, long leather coat flying out behind him as he rode, and bright blonde hair that shone in the moonlight.

Buffy's mouth dropped wide open like a fish, as the man and the bike sped past them, going up on it's back wheel as it rounded the corner of the building.

"Who was that?!" Cordelia gaped in shock. Even from this distance that man looked fine, and boy did he know how to handle a motorcycle.

"I dunno..." Faith shook her head. Even she was kind of impressed, and usually guys weren't all that impressive to her. They were all pretty much the same, only good for one thing and not all of them were too good at that...

The moment of silence was shattered again as the motorcycle and it's rider reappeared from the other side of the Bronze, tearing up the ground. He zig-zagged passed the girls before heading back the way he came, only to take a sharp turn right in front of an oncoming black car, and go up on the back wheel again as he cut past it with just inches to spare.

"Who the hell is that idiot?!" Angel fumed as got out the drivers side of the car and slammed the door, almost hard enough to break the glass.

"I don't know man, but I say we find out" Xander shot daggers from his eyes at the biker that seemed to have the girls hypnotised as he screeched his tyres around the corner of the building once again.

Angel, Xander, Oz and Andrew made to move forward to go and investigate but a voice off to the left stopped them dead in their tracks.

"Well, if it isn't Angel and his fairy dust club" a patronising tone caught the gang's ears and they knew there was only one guy who would dare to talk to them like that.

"Get lost Walsh this ain't your turf" Angel bit out, really not wanting to deal with this right now. As much as he and his gang ruled the Bronze and Sunnydale High, Adam Walsh and his bunch of rejects dominated at the nastier club in town, The Fish Tank, and the rival school from just outside of Sunnydale.

The leader of the gang just laughed, turning toward the girls.

"Y'know you girls could do so much better than these boys" he leered, as he and his friends moved towards them "You need real men for real action" he grinned as the guy on his left got closer to Buffy.

"Hey Summers" he smiled somewhat dangerously and Buffy shook her head in disgust. It was Riley Finn, a guy she'd known when they were kids. He'd been a nice guy then, ridiculously nice to the point of boring and geeky. Then he went to the other high school and joined up with Adam's gang - now he was just scum.

"Get lost, creep" she snapped, stepping back into the line of her girl friends.

"That's not exactly friendly now is it?" he reached a hand out to her face and she knocked it away.

"You heard what she said man, now back the hell off" Faith snapped in an angry tone. Willow looked petrified as the rival gang's members all came towards them. Faith and Buffy were tough, always had been, but she wasn't and although Cordelia knew how to swing her heavy purse at the head of attackers, there was no way the four of them, plus little Dawnie, could beat back five large guys.

"Oh this baby wants to play" one of them leered at Faith who gave him a smack in the jaw for his trouble. Angel knew then the guys had to make their move before the girls got hurt.

The fight was on as Angel spun Adam around and laid into him with punch after punch. Xander was soon in on the action, and despite his quiet nature Oz was an animal in a fight, especially where his girl was concerned. Even Andrew did his best to help, though he acquired more bruises than he caused.

Faith wanted a piece of the action but the other girls held her back, fearing for her safety. As Willow and Cordy struggled to calm her down when she saw Angel take a hit, Buffy found herself pinned to the wall by Riley who had easily outwitted Andrew and left him on the ground to bleed.

"Now where were we before we got interrupted?" he said, leaning into her, she managed to push him away but that only made him more determined to have his way. As he made to advance on her again and Buffy realised she had nowhere to go, she heard the sound of the motorcycle engine off to the side. Riley stepped back to see what was happening and the bike cut expertly between him and Buffy, the rider standing as he drove and kicking the boy squarely in the chest, sending him flying.

Temporarily winded, Riley lay on the ground, grasping his chest and gasping for air. His friend Graham glanced over to him and then looked up at the leather clad guy on the bike as he went up on the back wheel and skidded around the parking lot.

"That dumb ass is gonna pay" he said, giving Xander a hard shove and turning, just as Riley got himself off the ground and managed to yell to the gang;

"Change of plan boys" he pointed to the new target.

Adam nodded as the gang looked to him.

"Seek and destroy" he agreed as they ran back to their car leaving the battered remains of Angel's gang behind.

The motorcycle pulled some fancy moves across the ground, weaving in and out of the people and cars, staying a good distance away from Adam's car until he was finally caught in a corner. He expertly backed up, looking like he was finished. Just as the guys were clambering from the car, he sped forward and jumped over the hood. Realising they'd been tricked they swore colourfully as they jumped back into their vehicle and sped away behind the retreating motorcycle.

By this time the girls had run to see if Buffy was okay and the blonde herself was hypnotised by the disappearing tail light of the motorcycle, and the man atop it that had saved her.

Anyone else taking for granted that she needed saving from an idiot like Riley Finn would have pissed her off to no end, but this guy was different. This was the one she'd been waiting for. If it wasn't for the fact all her friends were there and were telling her they'd seen it too, she'd have thought she was dreaming.

The guys got themselves up off the ground, Andrew had a couple of nasty cuts and bruises, but nothing that wouldn't heal inside a couple of days. Angel was pretty sure he had the beginnings of a black eye and Xander was limping slightly. Oz had scraped his knuckles but other than that the guys were just winded, and only their pride was suffering terminal damage.

The girls turned to see them approach and Angel saw Buffy's glazed expression. He didn't look at all happy as he snapped;

"Shows over" putting an arm around Faith's shoulders and encouraging her to come with him he added "Let's get inside"

They disappeared into the building and Cordelia turned to see Xander behind her.

"Hey babe" he gave her a lopsided smile. She kissed him as he leant on her and they too went into the Bronze.

"Oz, are you okay?" Willow fussed her boyfriend as he came over "and did you see that guy?"

"I'm fine" he smiled at both her concern and her excitement "and yeah, I saw. Kinda cool. You okay?" he checked hugging her.

"I am now" she assured him as he kissed the top of her head and they followed on into the club.

Dawn was already fussing over Andrew, and helping him towards the front doors, secretly elated about the impact William, or more accurately Spike, had on her sister. At the same time she was sort of worried that Adam's gang would catch up with him and hurt him. She knew their reputation and had just seen what they'd done to Angel and the gang who were supposedly pretty tough...

"Buffy?" Dawn called back as she realised they were at the doors and her sister hadn't followed.

"I'll be right there" she called absently, still straining her eyes to see the biker that had come and gone, to hear the engine in the distance...

Surely it wasn't possible for this guy to be real, he was straight out of her dreams! The black leather coat flowing out behind him, the cool moves on that gorgeous motorcycle, and that bleached blond hair was just incredible. She'd seen him and then he was gone. She was so disappointed that she hadn't even gotten a chance to ask his name. Somehow it was worse to know her dream man was real and yet not be able to have him.

With a dejected sigh she turned to head into the Bronze where she knew her friends would be waiting. Right by the doors, she turned back, wondering if she was imagining the sound of the engine behind her. She wasn't and there he was in all his bike-riding-and-black-leather glory.

"Looking for me, luv?" he asked with a smirk as her mouth fell open of it's own accord.

"I was" she forced out, hardly able to believe this was happening, that this guy was real and he was talking to her! "Who are you?" she blurted out, replaying it in her head to make sure she hadn't sounded like an idiot - she figured she was okay since he continued to smile at her.

"Name's Spike" William told her with a tilt of his head, finding it so simple to be 'cool' when she was acting this way, looking at him like he was a God "Was wonderin'" he asked her "you wanna ride with me?"

All Buffy could do was smile and nod slightly in answer to his question. He was truly incredible on that bike and she'd go anywhere he was willing to take her. She was about to open her mouth and give a real answer when a sound in the distance caught both their attention. Cop cars, Buffy knew that sound only too well, Angel and the gang had come close to being caught fighting in the street once or twice before. There was blood on the pavement around them and if the police found Buffy and her mystery man there it'd be all questions and accusations. Knowing Angel the way she did and how jealous and weird he got, he was likely to get her new 'friend' into trouble. William was also a little afraid of getting picked up by the law.

"Another time, pet" he promised Buffy, reaching out to brush his fingers against her cheek "That's a promise"

She shivered in a delicious way at the simple touch as he revved the engine and she saw the two police cars arrive, blocking the exits to the parking lot. It was too late, Spike would get caught and it'd be all her fault because he'd come back to see her!

"I..." she began but he cut her off.

"I'll see you" he promised as he rode off at a terrific speed, headed straight for the cop cars right as the men began to climb out.

Buffy watched as Spike made the bike fly over the cars and land on the other side before speeding away out of sight. Two policeman got back in their car to go after him whilst the others stayed and looked over at Buffy. Dawn ran out from the Bronze and grabbed her sisters arm.

"Buffy, get inside" he half-dragged her into the building. Spike had been incredible tonight and she was proud of him and the effect he'd had on her sister, but she couldn't let Buffy get in a conversation with the cops and have any part of the gang dragged down-town.

The final thought of both the Summer sisters as they hurried into the club was 'I hope Spike is okay'

To Be Continued...

A/N2 : Reviews not just welcomed but craved! I always love to hear what you think.  
For those that are interested, more Our Little Secret should be up in the next couple of days.  
All Spike fans, please visit my re-vamped Spike site; www. geocities. com/ spike 18802003 (you'll need to take out all the spaces!)


	9. Where Do We Go From Here?

A/N : Woah, really glad you all liked the big meeting chapter! Thanx to everyone who reviewed; Soulful-Spikes-True-Love, wings(of)paper, spikeswife1, pixiecorn, electricgurl, NIME, bebluvspikey, spuffyfan-1, wicked-angel3, lindsay, i luv spike, Elizance, Kata Malfoy, Higgy's Red, sPIKEanDmE, Ellie, thorn, naiya-isis. Here's the next chapter...

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 9 - Where Do We Go From Here?

For once in Dawn Summers life, she couldn't wait to get to school. All day Sunday she'd wanted to call Spike, but she knew he didn't want his mother to know about his secret identity. He was a nice guy and getting him into trouble was not an option, especially now when things were just getting interesting.

The youngest Summers knew her friends timetable pretty well and skipped second period to go and find him in the library where she knew he'd be during his free.

'Yep, there he is' Dawn thought to herself as she peered around the side of a bookcase at William, now looking very much his geek-self. Still, since he'd ditched the glasses and got some slightly more fashionable clothes, he did look kinda hot.

"Hey Spike" she grinned as she practically leapt out at him. William physically bounced in his seat at the surprise, before pulling Dawn by the hand into the seat beside him, encouraging her to be quiet.

"Okay so libraries are quiet places, but let's not go to extremes Spike, I only said hello" she frowned as she put down her book bag.

"It's not that, Dawn" he told her in a whisper "but you cannot call me Spike in public, not when I'm not..Spike" he explained somewhat badly but she knew what he meant. She rolled her eyes as he looked around, checking no-one had heard.

"Y'know, if I didn't know better, I'd never believe you were the same person" she sighed, "but hey, I guess that is kinda the point..."

"It _was_ kind of the point" he corrected and she frowned.

"Okay, you lost me" the brunette confessed, flipping her hair over her shoulder and leaning forward on the desk as they whispered their secrets, "What do you mean by the was?"

"The way I see it, Spike made a good impression on your sister" he began, causing Dawn to laugh.

"A good impression?" she echoed, "Will, you have no idea! She didn't talk for like an hour, she was so totally dazed, and when we finally got her to speak it was Spike this and Spike that and do you think he's okay, do you think he got away from the cops...hey actually" she suddenly had a thought, "how did you get away from those cops?"

"Really thought I wasn't going to for a while there" he admitted, before a decidedly cocky smirk settled on his face and a touch of his 'Spike voice' came through, "but I pulled a couple of choice moves, took a route down the back alleys, there was no way those cop cars were gonna make it"

"You loved it didn't you?" Dawn grinned as he finished his little narrative and he looked slightly embarrassed when he answered.

"The whole night was something else, but the best five minutes were when Buffy looked at me" he admitted, "No-one ever looked at me that way before, it was like I was all she ever wanted.

"You are" Dawn agreed immediately, "or at least Spike is"

"We're the same person Dawn" William pointed out as the girl dug through her bag for her books as the librarian walked past and shot her a look.

"You're so not the same" she said, giving up on her book searching as soon as the staff member was gone, "No offence intended but you're not half so cool looking today...I dunno why you can't leave your hair blond at least, it looked so much better"

"It'd give away my identity" he reminded her, "although I was thinking, maybe I should do it anyway"

"Dye your hair?" Dawn asked hopefully but William shook his head.

"No, admit my identity" he told her quietly, "to Buffy, to everyone"

"She'll freak!" Dawn exclaimed, "They all will. William, why when we've worked so hard, would you wanna go and throw it all away?"

"Because it's all a lie" he said sadly, "and I don't want my relationship with your sister to be based on lies"

"There is no other way!" Dawn tried to explain, getting extremely agitated about this, "If you don't have the lie-based relationship, then you don't have a relationship at all!"

William looked kind of upset by what she'd told him and Dawn hated to know she'd caused the sad look on his face. He really was a nice guy, and she didn't understand why he didn't want some nice average girl that might actually date him, instead of Buffy the impossible sister!

"I still think I should tell her" he sighed, closing the book in front of him. He really hadn't been reading it properly anyway.

"Then go ahead" he was surprised to hear Dawn say as she got up from the seat, swung her bag over her shoulder and hurried away. When William turned he saw Willow entering the library, Oz on her left side and Buffy on her right.

"Hi" he greeted them. The only one who answered was the red-haired girl, whilst her boyfriend nodded in his general direction and Buffy half-smiled. They all went to sit at the next table until Willow looked back at William and seemed to convince the others the should take pity on him.

"You mind if we join you?" she asked with a bright smile and when he said he didn't they all took seats at the table.

Again William pretended to read his book, as the other three seemed to be doing homework or something. He stole glances at Buffy but her head was mostly down, concentrating hard on her work. The next time he looked she was also glancing up and he was thrilled when she gave him a small smile, which he returned.

"Buffy?" he dared to call back her attention, glad that Willow and Oz were discussing something quietly and not actually listening to what he and Buffy were saying.

"Yeah?" she answered as she looked over at him again with a puzzled expression.

"I was wondering, do you, I was...erm....did you have a nice weekend?" he asked instead, mentally kicking himself for being such an idiot. Where had that confidence gone that he had when he was Spike?

"Yeah, it was great, thanks" Buffy told him, a little unsure as to why he was asking, they usually didn't talk to each other much, especially about social stuff, "How about you?" she felt like she ought to be polite and ask him the same.

"It was...splendid" he smiled, collecting up his books and excusing himself from the table. Buffy watched him leave and shook her head. He really was just a little weird.

Outside the library, Dawn grabbed him as he tried to walk past.

"I'm guessing since I didn't hear the screaming from here, you didn't tell her" the brunette smirked, an expression William was pretty sure she'd got from Ripper.

"No, I didn't" he admitted, "Maybe it'd be easier if Spike told her"

"Now there's an idea" Dawn nodded, "Give her the best date of her life and then come clean, she can't be mad at you, she'll already be in love with you, right?"

"In love with me?" he coloured at the very idea, "I think that's a little strong, Dawn, she's only met my 'alter-ego' once" he air-quoted, an action he was ashamed to say he'd gotten from her.

"Will, she's been in love with the mystery guy since way before he was you" she tried to explain, "now that he's you and you're him, she'll still love him and therefore you and the other you as well when she finds out you're him"

William tried not to laugh at her, the girl really was trying to help, but she'd lost him with her little speech from practically the beginning. The bell rang before he had a chance to comment anyway.

"I guess I'll see you later" he told her, heading towards his next class.

"Count on it, Spike" she said quietly in the empty hall, causing him to shoot her a look. Still, William walked to class with a smile on his face and a spring in his step. Maybe Buffy was already in love with Spike, and if she wasn't, she very soon would be.

- - - - - -

At the end of the school day, William went into his house still grinning, ideas for the ultimate date Spike was going to take Buffy on filling his head. Dawn had seemed perfectly serious when she said that her sister was in love and William was more than sure he felt the same about her. The only small problem being, Buffy was in love with a man that technically didn't exist...his smile turned to a frown as he entered the kitchen where his mother was making a snack.

"Hello, son" she smiled, before noticing his expression, "Oh, whatever's the matter?" she asked as he sat down heavily on a stool by the breakfast bar and she took a seat the other side.

"It's nothing really" he shrugged, knowing that this time he was unable to confide in his mother. With all his other problems, he'd always gone straight to her for advice and comfort, was it really any wonder that his class-mates back in England had nick-named him Mummy's boy and Poofter? He smirked as he thought, they wouldn't be saying that if they'd seen him Saturday night.

"William" his mother sighed, putting her hand over his on the worktop, "You're hardly ever at home anymore, you spent hours in the bathroom on Sunday, and we never really talk anymore...you would tell me if something was wrong, wouldn't you?" she asked worriedly.

William got up from his seat, moving round the counter to kiss his mother on the cheek.

"I'm fine, Mum, I promise" he told her with a smile. He loved that she cared really, he just needed her to understand, "but I'm a big boy now and I s'pose I'm just growing up is all"

Mother and son shared a smile before he bounded off up the stairs to dump his bag and visit the bathroom, before heading back down to the kitchen to eat. There wasn't much homework that he really had to do tonight and he really wanted to go over to the garage to check on the bike. It'd got a couple of knocks Saturday night and Ripper had said he'd have a look if he had time, but William knew it'd ultimately be his responibility to fix anything that was broken. He only hoped Anne wouldn't make too much fuss when he mentioned going out again tonight.

- - - - - -

"Now here's a bloke that caused quite a stir" Ripper grinned as his young friend strolled into the garage.  
  
Thankfully William's mother hadn't asked too many questions when he'd said he was going out to see a friend, he figured she was just pleased that he actually had friends these days "Seems the cops had more of an idea where you were going than you thought" the older Brit told the boy, whose expression went from smirking to panicked in seconds.  
  
"They came here?" he asked worriedly as he walked across the room with Ripper to where the bike was waiting for him.

"Yeah, asked if I'd had anyone with a bike in here for service or whatever" the older man didn't seem at all phased by the police visit. Unbeknownst to William, he'd had a few run-ins with the law when he was young, and they really didn't scare him.  
  
"And you said no?" William checked, causing Ripper to roll his eyes as he pulled on the tarp that covered the machine.

"Course I said no, you pillock" he almost laughed at the panic on Will's face "Still, they had a look around, couldn't prove the bike here was the one they were after, and then they pissed off again"

William sighed audibly, staring down at the bike and running a hand over his face and back through his hair.

"Why am I doing this?" he asked rhetorically, but Ripper had an answer. He pulled something from his back pocket and held it up for the boy to see.

"Cos of a certain blonde you've got the hots for?" he suggested. William smiled at the photograph being held in front of his face, the one picture of Buffy that he owned.

"I wondered where I'd left that" he said, taking it from his friend and continuing to stare at it, mentally reminding himself to thank Dawn again for all her help, the picture in particular.

"She is a beauty" Ripper told him, a hand on his shoulder. He knew the effect a pretty girl could have on a young man. Years ago, he had been just like William, though these days he'd never admit it.

"She's everything, and I love her" the young man blurted out without thinking, trying not to blush as he pushed the photo into his pocket out of sight. "You think I'm crazy?" he asked Ripper who was now back under the hood of a Chevy where he had been when William came in. The older man shrugged his shoulders.

"Maybe" he agreed "but love does that to you, I should know" he added with an eye roll. William went over to lean on the side of the car and watch what he was doing.

"You always say stuff like that but you never explain it to me" he pressed, Ripper just looked up and smirked that smirk of his.

"And neither will I" he laughed, throwing an oily rag at the boy, who thought fast and caught it just as Dawn walked on.

"Hey!" she smiled brightly at her two favourite Brits. They both smiled back.

"Hello, pet" Ripper greeted her "How's things?"

"Pretty good" she told him "in fact better than good right now. Spike, I had this great idea" she enthused as she moved over to where he was standing.

"I told you not to get into the habit of calling me that when I'm not dressed that way" he shifted uncomfortably as Ripper shot him a look, this was the first he'd heard of it.

"Spike?" he echoed "Now there's a name. Buffy like that kind of thing does she?" he asked with a look that was decidedly filthy. William continued to look uneasy.

"Well I had to have a name" he said in his defence "besides her last bloke was called Angel"

"Say no more" Ripper held up his hands in mock surrender and went back to his work. Angel? Now that was a real Nancy-boy name! He thanked his lucky stars that the kids hadn't found out his real name. Ripper sounded cool and dangerous, Rupert was a ponce's name.

"Spike, will you listen, I have info" the youngest Summers was determined that her friend was going to listen to her, even if she had to physically bounce up and down to get his attention.

"Okay, Dawn, what it is?" he smiled at her enthusiasm, as she took a deep breath and launched into her ramble.

"Okay, so, my Dad was totally spazzing cos he part owns this new-agey fake magic store in town and one of the shop assistants quit today without notice, and the lady, Tara, who works there can't cope alone" William really couldn't understand where this was going, and he didn't have time to ask, since Dawn didn't seem to be stopping to draw breath yet "Point is Dad fast shuffled Buffy into working Friday after school, cos Amy, the girl who quit, used to do Thursday and Friday afternoons, and I got picked for Thursday, anyway, I figured if I was around on Friday too, you could show up and totally sweep Buffy off her feet. She could go out with you, I could cover the store with Tara, and everyone would be happy!" she ended with a big grin, showing no signs of being out-of-breath and William would have found the fact incredible if he wasn't still trying to process all the information he'd just been given.

"The kid talks bloody fast" Ripper observed with a chuckle "but what she says makes some sense"

"Seems like it" William grinned as he finally realised the girl had the perfect plan worked out for him "Dawn, you're amazing" he announced, acting on impulse and kissing her on the cheek, making her blush seven different shades.

"Er, I gotta go" she said quickly, practically running for the door. Ripper laughed loudly, clapping William on the back of the shoulder.

"If you can get Buffy to like you half as much as she does, I think you're onto a winner mate" he said, still laughing as he walked away to his small office.

"Yeah" the boy said absently, thinking solely of Buffy right now "Friday night, I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna sweep her off her feet" he smiled, turning back to his bike and preparing to fix it up for his big date.

To Be Continued...

A/N2 : Please let me know what you think in the usual way - Review! :-)


	10. Some Enchanted Evening

A/N : Thanx to; Elizance, spikeswife1, Lady Savage, naiya-isis, ForeversEnough, pixiecorn, sunnyhell, Mr Lennox I pressume, velja, electricgurl, wings(of)paper, Higgy's Red, Mita427, lindsay, AnitaBlake/BuffyFan, Scarlet Ibis, i luv spike, for the reviews. Love the ideas that you give me and whilst some may get incorporated I obviously have my own to write too and they'll have to come first. Hope you continue to enjoy the story anyway...here's the next chapter...  
_(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)_

Chapter 10 - Some Enchanted Evening

It was Friday lunchtime at Sunnydale High School and the dominating gang of Seniors were just taking their places around the usual table.

"And it was like, hello, how could you out vote me?" Cordelia complained as she took her seat between Xander and Buffy. She'd just finished a meeting of the Prom committee, and she was not happy about some of the decisions that had been made "It was all that stupid Marcie's fault, like she should ever be on the committee in the first place!" she continued as many of her friends rolled their eyes and surpressed their laughter, Cordy really did get far too involved when it came to things like Prom. "Anyway we finally got it figured out" she sighed, picking up her fork and taking a mouthful of salad. More than one person figured they might actually get a word in now, but they were wrong as she swiftly swallowed and went on to her next important topic "So anyway, Bronze tonight for clothes conference?" she asked the girls "You know I have an allergy to shop bought dresses but there's still a chance you girls might pick out a colour that'll clash with my outfit and I don't want to have to avoid you all night, especially since it's the last big event before Prom"

She was referring to the traditional Pre-Prom party that was held each year for the graduating Sunnydale High students, at the Bronze. Just one week before the actual event, it was everyone's last chance to make final arrangements with their friends and partners, and a far less formal affair than the Prom itself.

"Don't sweat it Cor" Faith shrugged, stealing some fries from Angel's plate to the left of her, laughing when he playfully slapped her hand away "We'll be there for your little conference, no big deal"

"Guys, you know that I can't" Buffy piped up from the other side of the table, looking uncomfortable. The more time she spent with her friends lately, the less she felt she belonged. They were all coupled up and constantly talking about topics that didn't interest her like they used to, plus her mind was often elsewhere thinking of Spike...

"Oh yes, Buffy has to go sell rabbits feet and newts eyes to freaks tonight" Angel laughed at his own joke as Faith tried not to join in.

"C'mon guys" Oz admonished "it's not her fault"

Usually the guitarist didn't say anything during this type of conversation, but he felt his girlfriend's shoulders tense beneath his arm when Buffy was getting insulted, and he refused to sit by whilst Willow got upset.

"Some of the books in the store are actually pretty cool" she said, smiling at Oz for helping out her friend "all about spells and the origins of witchcraft and stuff"

"Oh come on Will" Xander rolled his eyes "that stuff is for weirdoes"

"Speaking of..." Cordelia half smiled, elbowing her boyfriend to get his attention.

All eyes moved across the room to see a familiar student coming towards their table. Buffy lowered her head to her plate as William approached. She couldn't say she liked him exactly but he wasn't all that bad and Angel and the gang always gave him such a hard time. She didn't like to see the pain in his eyes when they were so mean to him, it made her feel all the worse for not being nicer to him herself.

"Hey William!" Angel called out "How's life in the geek lane?" he smirked.

"Fine, thankyou" the boy grinned, as if the question had been purely innocent. Angel frowned.

"What's he so happy about?" Xander looked between the grinning boy as he disappeared and his friend who was looking decidedly confused.

Andrew, who had been silent til now, had a possible answer to that question.

"Maybe he's got a girlfriend or something?" he suggested, and there was a pause before almost everyone else at the table burst out laughing at the very idea. All except Buffy, who shared a look with the boy beside her. It seemed neither of them understood why that was quite so amusing, but then they were the only two single people at the table.

- - - - - - -

After school, Buffy walked to the Magic Box alone. She knew it would have been faster to get Cordy to drop her off in the car, or less lonely if she'd taken up Willow's offer of walking with her but she couldn't deal with the company right now.

Thoughts of Spike were driving her to distraction. Although it was a dream come true meeting him the way she had, it was a complete nightmare not knowing when or if she'd ever see him again.

As Tara showed her around the store, pointing out the shelves of spell books and history books, and showing her how to work the cash register, Buffy found her mind was still only half on the topic at hand.

"Okay, I think that's everything" Tara said finally with a warm smile on her face "Any questions, just ask"

"'Kay" the younger girl answered absently, like she hadn't really heard a word. Tara reached out a hand to her arm.

"Buffy?" she said with a slight frown "Look I know you don't really want to be here and your father kind of made you but I really do appreciate the help" she smiled again and Buffy felt bad. Tara was a nice lady and she didn't want to be rude to her. She was a good ten or fifteen years older than Buffy though she didn't look more than five, and she'd been her and Dawn's favourite baby-sitter when they were young enough to need one. She was always so kind and willing to listen and help out, it was a long time since they'd really talked, but right now Buffy didn't even know where to begin.

"It's okay, Tara" she nodded, putting her hand over the older woman's "I don't mind being here so much, it's just...well, my mind is on other things is all" she shrugged.

"Anything you need to talk about sweetie?" Tara asked with a concerned look on her features. Buffy forced a smile.

"No, honestly" she shook her head "I'll be fine"

It was over an hour since Buffy had arrived at the Magic Box and she was already seriously bored. There weren't all that many customers, and it seemed to her that Tara could cope with those that there were on her own. Maybe it was usually busier, perhaps today was just a slow day. Whatever the reasons, Buffy wanted to be elsewhere, but not just in a random place, she wanted to be with Spike. She was sitting on a stool behind the counter with her elbows leaning on the top, daydreaming about the mystery man she had met just once but who had haunted her dreams for months before and every moment since.

The jingling of the bell above the front door broke her from her silent reverie and Buffy sat herself up straight, expecting to see a customer as she looked over. Instead, she saw her annoying little sister.

"Hey!" Dawn grinned as she bounced into the store.

"Dawn, what are you doing here?" Buffy asked accusingly. Why would she be here when she didn't have to be?

"I came to see Tara" the brunette snapped back, the smile slipping from her face as she wondered for the fortieth time why William was even trying to get her sisters attention. Buffy could be such a total pain!

"Why?" came the blonde's next question as she folded her arms across her chest.

"Because she's my friend!" Dawn replied, as if it were obvious "She's nice to me, and she doesn't treat me like a kid" she emphasised each word as if Buffy were stupid, obviously implying that her sister was guilty of the aforementioned crimes. Buffy either didn't notice or simply didn't care as she rolled her eyes.

"She's in the basement fetching mandra root...or mantra root?" she frowned not really knowing what she was trying to say "Whatever" she waved a dismissive hand "she's down there"

With a begrudgingly given 'thanks' the younger sister stomped around the counter and down the stairs to the basement. Buffy sighed in frustration and decided to try and find something in the store to take her mind off Dawn and her annoyingness as well as Spike who she would probably never see again anyway.

Her back was to the door as she scanned a row of books, trying to find something, anything, that looked remotely interesting. She only half heard the bell over the door again and so did not turn until a slightly aged man called to her.

"Excuse me, Miss?"

She turned and smiled her best shop assistant smile, and the customer didn't seem to notice it was fake as he returned the look.

"Er, which of these candles creates a more...romantic mood" he asked her from across the room.

Buffy walked around the counter and turned her back to the door again as she looked at the scented candles on the shelf.

She sniffed at the wax and read the label on the bottom of one.

"Lemon Seduction..." she said to herself, repeating the process with the second candle in the row "Essence of Slug..." she wrinkled her nose at that one, "I think..."

"Excuse me Miss" he sentence was cut off by another male voice behind her and tapping on her shoulder.

"Just a sec, I..." the words died on her tongue as she turned around and came face to face with the man she'd been daydreaming about "Oh my God" she gasped, swallowing hard as she tried to take in what was happening.

"Hello, Buffy" Spike smirked at her shocked expression.

"You know my name?" she said in a dreamy voice that she couldn't identify as her own. Suddenly she felt very young and shy, in a way she never was with other guys.

"Excuse me, Miss?" the older man who wanted a candle was calling for her attention again but Buffy didn't even notice and it seemed Spike didn't either as he answered her question.

"Naturally, and you remember me it seems" his smirk turned into a real smile when she nodded madly.

"Of course I remember you, Spike" she smiled back at him, wanting to say something clever or just move off the spot, but finding it impossible whilst he was standing there, looking all hypnotically gorgeous and totally edible.

"Y'know I seem to remember something else being said that night we met" he tilted his head as if he were thinking about it, before he continued "something about you riding with me, was it?" he smirked again and Buffy thought she was going to burst with the thrill of it all.

"Are you serious?" she breathed, completely ignoring the customers attempts to get her attention.

"Bike's outside waitin'" Spike gestured towards the door "What'd'ya say, pet?"

"Are you going to assist me?" the by now irate patron of the magic store asked, and Buffy only really noticed because Spike looked over at him.

Looking down at the candle she held in her hands she turned briefly to shove it into the customers hand.

"Take the slug" she said, annoyed at the interruption "she's not gonna sleep with you anyway!" she said somewhat nastily before turning back to Spike and smiling "Let's go"

The literal man of her dreams opened the door for her and they left the Magic Box, Buffy feeling as if she was floating on Cloud 9 already.

With a look of disbelief and anger, the customer threw down the candle and stormed out of the shop just before Tara and Dawn appeared from the basement.

"Buffy had to leave?" the older woman frowned at Dawn's revelation "Why?"

"Tara, can you keep a secret?" the youngest Summers whispered, despite the fact the shop was empty.

"Of course, sweetie, what is it?" Tara asked as they sat down on the two stools behind the counter.

"Well" Dawn began "it's kind of a long story..."

Outside Spike handed Buffy a helmet and climbed onto the bike that was parked there as he'd promised. Buffy climbed on behind him and was suddenly petrified, not so much about being on the back of a motorcycle, she'd done that before, but being with this guy she never thought she'd meet til a week ago, and doubted she'd ever see again even then.

"Where to, luv?" Spike turned to ask her and she shook her head.

"I don't care" she answered honestly, "Surprise me"

"I can do that" he nodded, his smirk returning as he thought to himself what a surprise it'd be when he revealed who he really was. He revved the engine and shouted over the noise, "You better hold on tight to me" he told her, "Don't wanna lose you half way there"

Buffy was more than willing as she wrapped her arms tight around his waist, like she never wanted to let go - truth be told, she really didn't. The engine revved again and William thought he was going to be sick from the excitement and nerves as Buffy held on tightly to him and he pulled the bike away from the kerb. He knew exactly where he was taking her and he had a million things he wanted to say to her - finally it seemed he was going to get the chance.

To Be Continued...

A/N2 : Review please and let me know what you think! More Spuffy coming up in the next chapter! Oh, and I'm also updating Our Little Secret for those that are interested.


	11. Out Of This World

A/N : Thanx for the latest reviews; Higgy's Red, Lady Savage, sPIKEanDmE, Elizance, i luv spike, Mita427, Mel, pixiecorn, spikeswife1, naiya-isis, velja. To all you people who asked if I really knew a guy like this version of Spike, you think I'd really tell you? He'd be mine and mine only! But in reality, I'm not so lucky, and have only my imagination for comfort. Oh well, such is life. Hope you like the new chapter!

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 11 - Out Of This World

"So glad we finally got that decided" Faith rolled her eyes as she came to stand by Angel. She was talking about Cordelia and her insane babbling about the Prom, as well as the Pre-Prom party, and what each of them would be wearing, etc. Faith figured they all looked good in anything, so what was the big deal? All she wanted to do was have a few drinks and get some lip-lock time with Angel, who was currently thoroughly engrossed in watching Xander beat Andrew at pool.

Annoyed by the fact he'd yet to pay her any attention she moved from his side to stand in front of him and wrapped her arm around his neck, before crushing her lips to his. His mind was soon far away from the pool game he'd been watching as he kissed her back.

"I've been thinking about that since you first walked in" Faith grinned when they parted for air, "and a whole lot more besides" she whispered in his ear, her hand sliding to places that told him precisely what she meant.

"Hey guys" Willow interrupted, much to the annoyance of both of them, "We were just thinking, it's pretty much dead in here tonight and we thought maybe we could head over to the Magic Box to see Buffy? She's probably totally bored all by herself"

"Plus, I wanna get this whole dress colour fiasco cleared up tonight!" Cordelia threw in, naturally the most important thing in the world to her was the fashion.

"I just slaughtered Andrew at pool" Xander grinned coming over to his girlfriends side, "So I have no problem with the leave-age"

"I guess it'd be cool to see all the magic tricks and stuff" the shorter boy shrugged as he put down his pool cue and joined the gang.

"We were kinda making plans, guys" Angel hoped the boys took the hint even if the girls didn't. It was Cordy however who seemed to understand best.

"Angel, you and Faith can have sex whenever" she snapped, grabbing the girls arm and hauling her towards the exit as the rest followed, "For once in your life think with the brain that's north of your belt and have a little consideration for others" she reprimanded as the gang headed out to the parking lot and their cars.

- - - - - - -

"So, Buffy has n-no idea that this guy is W-William" Tara frowned a little when Dawn finished her story "Isn't that a little, er, d-dishonest?" she asked the girl who looked thoughtful before answering.

"Not so much" she shrugged, "I mean, okay, so Will's not being totally honest about the Spike thing but Buffy did want a mysterious guy" she explained, "plus he is totally going to tell her soon"

"Well, so long as they're both happy I guess that's the main thing" Tara considered as Dawn wandered off to investigate something she'd spotted on the shelf that looked interesting, and the bell rang over the door indicating a customer had arrived.

As Tara dealt with the latest Magic Box patron, Dawn sat herself down behind the back shelves, re-arranging the conjuring crystals into rainbow order since she was so bored. She couldn't seem to stop her mind wandering to Spike and Buffy, and a smile spread on her face. As much as her sister bugged her, she was kinda glad that Spike made her happy and he really was the coolest guy ever. It was weird how William, this completey ordinary, kinda geeky guy, could transform himself so completely into a totally drool-worthy hunk. Those words led her mind onto another guy who she wished she could be seeing tonight at the Bronze instead of being stuck here. Both William and his Spike persona were great, but her heart had been set on another for a long time now. It seemed her own love-life, at least the one she wished she had, would have to wait though. Today was about Spike and Buffy and she really hoped they were having a good time.

- - - - - - -

"Wow" Buffy gasped as the bike finally came to a halt, "That was amazing" she enthused as her helmet was removed and she flung her blonde hair out into the setting suns rays. Spike propped up the bike but made no move to dismount. It seemed that as yet neither he nor Buffy were willing to move and let up the closeness they had where they currently sat.

"You do know that you're incredible, right?" Buffy grinned madly at him as he turned to look at her. She blushed a little when she realised quite what she'd said, ducking her head down and hiding behind her hair. Spike reached out a finger to lift her chin.

"Well, I gotta say pet, you're pretty special yourself" he smiled as her embarrassment increased.

"So" she said finally, "where are we, exactly?" she looked a little lost as she glanced around and Spike climbed off the bike, offering his hand to her as she did the same.

He led her to the edge of the precipice on which they stood, putting her in front of him and pointing down at the view.

"We're on top of the world" he whispered in her ear and she realised she was looking out at the town, the whole of Sunnydale laid out at her feet like a toy village. She smiled in wonder as she leaned back against him, his arms encircling her waist.

Despite having only met him once before in reality, in her dreams she'd spent so many nights in this man's arms. Buffy was not the least bit scared to be out in the middle of nowhere with this stranger, nor did she worry about being close to him. Inside her head they'd stood together like this before, they'd danced and laughed and kissed and more. Now it was reality and she couldn't be more thrilled.

Behind her Spike was also smiling. There was no way William could ever have imagined how easy it would be to pull off this persona. In these clothes, with this hair, and this attitude, and that bike that he rode, it made him into a whole other person. A person that Buffy liked a whole lot more than she did his real self. Someone she wanted to hold and be held by, someone she trusted. It was as if a spell had been cast on her, but then he felt as if the magicks had claimed him too. He had no idea how simple it was to be Spike, the embodiment of everything Buffy ever dreamed of. Gone was his shy looks and blushes, replaced with power and attitude he'd never had before.

"It's so beautiful up here" Buffy sighed, breaking his train of thought as she turned in his arms to look at him. They were mere inches apart and the smell of her perfume was making his head swim.

"You're not wrong" he smirked and the girl looked away.

"I was talking about the view" she reminded him, knowing he meant herself, "It's like a scene from a romance novel or a poem or something" she rambled on, so unsure what she was supposed to say or do. In her dreams talking wasn't their strong point, though what they did do involved a lot of lip action... "Why did you bring me here?" she asked suddenly interested to know. Spike was silent for a moment as he ran his fingers through her hair making her shiver delightfully.

"I wanted to be alone with you" he admitted, "somewhere special"

"Anywhere is special when I'm with you" she blurted out, "You're all I've ever wanted"

"Same here, luv" he told her, wondering how the hell he was controlling himself so well. His head and his heart were going into overdrive, but if she was telling him all this about how she felt, he knew now was the best time to do the same.

"I want to give you the world Buffy" he said softly, "I want to but I can't"

"You don't have to" she silenced him with a finger on his lips, "All I want is you, standing right here just like we are now"

Spike smiled slowly as he moved her hand away from his face.

"Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths, enwrought with golden and silver light..."  
Despite the fact he tried to squash it back down the words rose in his throat and demanded to be spoken.

"The blue and the dim and the dark cloths, of night and light and the half light..."

William and his stupid bloody poems were about to ruin the moment Spike realised too late.

"I would spread the cloths under your feet, but I, being poor, have only my dreams..."

No, he was wrong it seemed. Buffy was apparently mesmerised by the beautiful words as her eyes followed the movement of his lips to the last word.

"I have spread my dreams under your feet, tread softly because you tread on my dreams"

By the time he finished, Spike's voice was nothing but a whisper and he momentarily panicked when Buffy didn't say a word. Deciding it was now or never, Spike called on every once of courage he had and leaned in to kiss her. Her eyes fell shut right before his lips touched hers, she'd obviously anticipated his next move.

In all honesty Spike hadn't meant for it to be this way, one sweet moment was all he expected but before he knew where he was Buffy's arms were tightening around his neck and she was deepening the kiss that he had initiated. Letting themselves surrender to what they felt for a moment, they kissed with some passion before finally feeling the need to breathe.

"Wow" Buffy gasped, when they broke apart. For a moment Spike was at a loss for anything more intellectual than that himself, but his bravado came rushing back when he realised just what an effect he had on this girl.

"That 'wow' for the poem or the kiss?" he asked, his smirk re-appearing fast.

"Both" Buffy smiled, her breath finally coming back to her, "Those things and everything...tonight is perfect" she said, smile disappearing as they both turned much more serious. This time she moved first, as they began to kiss again, both of them unaware of what was happening in the town down below.

- - - - - - -

The bell over the door of the Magic Box jingled just ten minutes before closing. Tara was surprised and a little worried when four guys in black leather jackets all strode in. She calmed down some when she saw the four girls behind them, and recognised Willow as the shy little girl that hung around with Buffy and liked to visit the store sometimes.

"Blessed be" Tara smiled politely at the group, "C-can I help you?"

"We're looking for Buffy" Cordelia told her, "She said she was working in this...establishment" she said, looking around the jars of chickens feet and bat wings with some distaste.

"Oh, she's not here" Dawn grinned as she appeared from the door to the back, "She had to go out"

"I thought she had to work tonight cos you did it yesterday?" Willow frowned, "Wasn't that the deal?"

"I-it was" Tara nodded before Dawn cut in again.

"Guys, she got like totally swept off her feet by Spike!" she smiled wildly, practically bouncing up and down with excitement.

"Spike?" Cordelia echoed, "That guy with the motorcycle?" she checked. Dawn nodded, still grinning like an idiot.

"Well way to go B" Faith laughed, "I was starting to wonder if she batted for the other side if you know what I'm saying' but seems she was just waiting for Mr Perfect"

Angel looked severely P.O.ed by now. Whether it was because Faith was calling Spike Mr Perfect or because Buffy was out joy-riding with that idiot, even he wasn't sure, but he knew he wasn't happy.

"She's only met the guy once, right?" he asked dangerously and Dawn nodded.

"I guess" she shrugged before asking, "Why does it matter?"

"Sounds kinda freaky" Xander chipped in, "Some mystery guy taking her off into the night, when she hardly knows him"

"But Buffy wouldn't go if she thought he was dangerous" Willow reasoned, her grip on Oz's hand tightening as she started to worry.

"Sometimes it's hard to make the right judgement" her boyfriend told her gently, "He might seem like a nice guy but not be"

Dawn wanted to tell them it was okay, that it was just William and that Buffy was totally safe with him, but she'd promised not to let his real identity get out, not yet. Tara looked at her with troubled eyes, and the young teen felt a little sick. If the gang decided to go after Spike, with Angel in one of his moods, it would not end well. Though she was pretty certain Ripper had been teaching Spike a little about fighting during the time he spent at the garage, Angel and the guys were not to be messed with, and four against one were not good odds to play.

"Guys, Buffy'll be fine" she tried to convince them, "I mean, she knows how to take care of herself"

No-one seemed to be listening to her - no change there then. Angel turned to Tara.

"You know where they went?" he asked her.

"N-no, I'm sorry, I don't" she shook her head, feeling more than a little worried now.

"We'll drive around, take a look" he told the gang as they all headed back towards the door, "Hopefully they didn't go too far"

Before Dawn could say another word they were gone and Tara hurried to lock the door behind them.

"I hope you were right about this guy being decent, Dawnie" she said with a troubled expression.

"Tara, we don't need to worry about Spike hurting Buffy" she shook her head, "but we should maybe worry about Angel hurting Spike..."

To Be Continued...

A/N2 : The poem Spike/William recoted was He Wishes For The Cloths Of Heaven by William Yeats, which is one of my favourite poems and it kinda fit here. Please review and let me know if you liked this chapter - there'll be more v. soon! Oh, mand I have also updated Our Little Secret if you're interested. ;-)


	12. Fantasy v Reality

A/N : Okay, okay, I know my Dawn/Andrew hints were less than subtle but I tried that already and nobody noticed! lol. Anyway, thanx to the reviewers of the previous chapter; naiya-isis, sPIKEaNDmE, Lindsay, wicked-angel3, spikeswife1, i luv spike, Lady Savage, pixiecorn, Courtney37, velja, Higgy's Red, AnitaBlake/BuffyFan. More Spuffy goodness in this part. Hope you like!  
_(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)_

Chapter 12 - Fantasy v. Reality

"It's crazy" Buffy said softly, still revelling in the feeling of being wrapped in Spike's arms, "but I don't want this to end" she admitted.

"Everything has to end sometime, pet" he told her, kissing the top of her head, "'Cept my love for you" he whispered against her hair. He held his breath waiting for her reaction to that. Slowly her head rose from his chest and she looked up at him with a surprised yet seemingly pleased expression.

"You love me?" she checked, almost unable to believe it. She never truly thought she'd meet the man of her dreams but it was beyond madness to think that if she did he'd actually love her so fast, if at all.

"Said so, didn't I?" he smirked at her expression until she shook her head.

"Not entirely" she pointed out, knowing she was only being picky about this because she really wanted to here those three words, to have this scene play out like it had in her head a million times before.

"Buffy" he said softly, gently pushing her hair back behind her ear, "I love you" he said sincerely and the poor girl was almost in tears she was so thrilled.

"I love you too" she admitted with a shaky smile, "and I know it's ridiculous cos I hardly know you but...I can't help it"

She reached up to kiss him, arms tightening round his neck and pulling him closer as he held her tight to him by the waist, his other hand in her hair. When they pulled away minutes later he frowned.

"You're so cold, you're shivering" he realised, and she smiled when he opened up his coat and wrapped her inside it with him, holding her tightly beneath the stars.

"It's not the cold that's making me shiver" she admitted in a whisper against his chest.

Spike just smiled, not commenting on what he heard. He was having the night of his life but despite what Buffy said it was getting cold, the night was drawing in and he had to get her home soon or her parents would freak, so Dawn had said.

"Come on, luv" he said a little sadly, "It's late, I think I should be getting you home"

"But it's not so late...oh my God" she gasped when she moved to look at the watch on his wrist, "It really is so late" she realised, "but I don't want this to end" she told him, practically throwing herself at him for another kiss which he gladly gave her.

"S'not the end, luv" he promised when the kiss ended and they stood close together, foreheads touching, "It's only the beginning"

- - - - - - -

"Great, just how I wanted to spend my evening" Cordelia rolled her eyes as she stopped the car, "Staring at Angel's tail pipe"

"Weird" Faith smirked, "That's exactly what I had planned" the look on her face making it very clear what she meant.

"Oh gross, Faith, even for you" the girl driving looked appalled before turning back to keep her eyes on the road.

Angel, in his infinite wisdom, had decided the gang needed to go and find Buffy, wherever she was, just because she'd gone joy riding with some mystery guy named Spike. Angel drove the guys in his car and Cordelia drove the girls right behind.

So far they'd been past every possible place in town that two people might go on a date and so it seemed they were going to give up. Cordy sighed as the red light turned green and Angel's car pulled away allowing her to do the same. It was getting late and she just wanted to go home and sleep. Late nights were all very well when you were at a party but driving around in circles was making her crazy.

"You okay, Will?" Faith called into the back seat where her red-headed friend was looking a little pale.

"I'm fine" she lied, "I'm just...Do you think we should be worried that we can't find Buffy?" she asked. Faith shook her head.

"Nah, B can handle herself" she reasoned, "'Sides, who says she wants to be found? I'm thinking her and the bleach boy, secluded spot, revvin' up their engines real good" she grinned. Cordelia looked ill.

"Oh please, Faith, not everyone is sex-obsessed!" she pointed out. The dark haired girl just laughed.

"Maybe you're not" she shrugged, "but then maybe that's why Xander's always so cranky lately"

Just as the two girls were going to launch into a major fight Willow yelled for the car to stop and Cordelia pulled up sharply, realising that Angel's car in front had already stopped just a couple of feet up ahead.

"Now what?" she grumbled, craning her neck to see, "Oh, I think we got trouble" she realised when she saw what the guys had clearly caught sight of.

- - - - - - -

When Buffy caught sight of the school as she and Spike whipped past on his bike, she knew the adventure was almost over. Soon she'd be back at her house, back in reality, and there was no telling if and when she'd see Spike again. Despite the fact he professed to love her and she knew she was totally in love with him, there were no guarantees he'd come back once he left her on her doorstep tonight.

All too soon the bike stopped moving and the exhilarating night was over.

"Home sweet home" Spike told her, but her grip around his body tightened.

"I know" she sighed, resting her cheek against his back, trying to memorise every detail of the moment, the feel of his body, the smell of his leather coat...

With a further defeated sigh she loosened her grip on him and got off the bike. She stopped on the kerb looking up at her house, a place she really didn't want to be when the other option was Spike. His arms wound round her waist from behind and she leaned back against him, eyes closed as he kissed her neck.

"You sure this has to end?" she asked in a whisper, "You have no idea how long I waited for this night and now..." she sounded so sad and he couldn't bear it, especially when he felt the same. He spun her round and kissed her soundly, silencing her in the most exquisite way. A moment later when their lips parted she pushed herself further into his arms, wanting him just to hold her a little while longer.

The 'date' was over, and she'd been impressed by the show, but William knew it was now or never if he was going to tell her the truth. Suddenly he felt horribly guilty for not doing so sooner.

"You're the one shivering now" Buffy giggled against his chest and he brought one hand up to his sunglasses.

"It's because" he said softly, "there's something I should tell you..."

"What?" she asked, still with her head buried in his chest.

Spike was two seconds away from revealing himself to be William when he saw headlamps in the distance, and the streetlights illuminated two cars coming down Revello Drive.

"Bugger it!" he cursed, sounding too much like Ripper for his own liking, "We've got company, pet" he told her, shoving his sunglasses firmly back on his face and wishing Angel and his gang could just have left them alone!

"Oh God" Buffy groaned when she turned and saw the gang approaching. She turned back and found Spike was already on his bike. "Where are you going? You cannot be afraid of them!" she yelled as he revved the engine.

"Not a chance, sweetheart" he shook his head, "but it's not worth the fight right now" he told her.

"But when will I see you again?" she cried as he turned the bike to leave.

"Next Saturday" he told her with a final look, "Party at the Bronze, pet. I'll meet you out front"

Buffy frowned as he pulled away from the kerb and was gone.

"How does he know about the Pre-Prom party?" she asked herself as she turned back towards her house, only to be confronted by all seven of her close friends clambering from their cars.

"Hey guys, what's up?" she asked, as if she didn't know. Angel looked so angry he might burst at any second.

"Buffy, what the hell did you think you were doing riding off into the sunset with that...that jerk!" he demanded to know. The blonde he was addressing was far from amused.

"He is not the jerk in this situation!" she shot back, "Now if you'll excuse me I'm going inside..."

"You're not going anywhere!" Angel told her, grabbing her wrist as she tried to walk past into the house. She shook him off with ease as Xander grabbed his friends arm and told him maybe he should calm down.

"What is this really about, Angel?" Buffy wanted to know

"I see that Spike guy hanging around again, he's dead!" was his only answer and Buffy shook her head, wanting to get to the real truth.

"Is it because I've moved onto something better, whilst you're stuck humping Faith?" she said nastily.

"You better watch your mouth B" the dark-haired girl stepped forward, all leather pants and attitude, but Buffy wasn't phased and Angel only made things worse with his response.

"Maybe I just don't like losers messing with my girl"

"Your girl?" Faith and Buffy said in unison, both equally shocked by that comment, but Buffy didn't care enough to listen anymore and she hurried towards the house. Willow went after her.

"Buffy, we were just worried about you" she told her friend, the expression on her face backing up her words.

"Maybe you were Will" Buffy shook her head, "Maybe even Cordy and Oz a little, but Angel's just a jealous moron, and the rest follow his lead" she said sadly, "I'll see you tomorrow" she promised as she went up the stairs and into the house.

When Willow got back to the gang, Cordelia had Xander and Andrew in the car with her already and Oz was debating what to do for the best, as Faith cursed and yelled at Angel and he tried to apologise as best he could.

"You okay, sweetie?" Oz asked his girlfriend and she nodded, saying she just wanted to go to bed. He kissed her briefly and she ran into the house next door. Oz climbed into the back of Cordy's car and she drove the boys towards home.

Angel continued to pursue Faith who was angry as hell and wanted the whole street to know about it as she yelled and cursed at him some more.

"You're an asshole, Liam O'Connor! I dunno why the hell I thought I ever loved you!"

"You what?!" he called behind her, so stunned he stopped walking. Faith stopped too when she realised she'd blurted out the one thing she never meant to say aloud to anyone.

"Nothing, I didn't say nothing" she tried to cover as she stopped beneath a streetlight, her back still to him as she ran her hands through her hair and sighed.

"I heard what you said, Faith" Angel told her as he caught up to her and reached a hand out to her arm. She half-heartedly pulled away but he easily turned her around to face him.

"Baby, I'm sorry" he sighed, trying to make her look at him, "I just don't wanna see Buffy get hurt...doesn't mean I don't love you, cos I do" he told her. She laughed painfully.

"Like hell you do" she scoffed, and he brought his hand to her chin, turning her face and making her look at last.

"I do" he swore to her, "I do" he said again, suddenly realising that in some ways that was the real truth.

When he leaned in to kiss her she didn't pull away or lash out at him. They both knew tonight would go from here just how they'd planned it in the first place. It was a weird kind of love they had, but it was better than being alone.

To Be Continued...


	13. To Be Or Not To Be

A/N : Thanx for the latest review; electricgurl, spikeswife1, Mita427, i luv spike, wicked-angel3, sPIKeaNDmE, Lady Savage, sunnyhell, pixiecorn - you guys rock! Here's the new chapter!

(For disclaimer, etc - see chapter 1)

Chapter 13 - To Be Or Not To Be

"Miss Summers!" the voice of English teacher Jenny Calendar caught Buffy off guard and she snapped out of her daydream fast. Of course in truth it was not so much a dream more of a memory. Friday night with Spike had been the most incredible night of her life and she'd spent many hours of her weekend replaying the scenes in her mind or telling Willow some of the highlights. The red-head seemed a little worried about her friends apparent obsession with this mystery guy but she didn't like to say anything. This was the happiest Buffy had been in months and there was no way Willow was going to be the one to spoil it.

As Buffy spent the entire weekend floating around on a cloud, Dawn smiled secretly to herself and crept out of the house to see Spike. One thing she was kind of glad about was it seemed as yet Will had not given up his secret identity. She liked the mystery thing and she knew that was part of what attracted her sister. She wanted to make sure things were strong enough between Buffy and Spike before he admitted to being William, at least that way he stood a chance of Buffy forgiving him for lying all this time.

He himself had a similar floaty feeling throughout the weekend and his mother noticed he was not without a grin all weekend! She liked to see him so happy after so many years of being apparently friendless and lonely. It now seemed life was getting better for her son and she was very pleased.

William was of course thrilled to know that Buffy was in love with him as he was now with her, and moments they'd shared on Friday night would stay in his memory forever. It had been a hell of a night and he wanted more but he also knew the dream couldn't last forever. Eventually he would have to confess to her that her dream man was nothing more than a geek with new clothes and a bit of borrowed attitude.

Now here he sat, just a few feet from the girl he loved and who had freely admitted to feeling the same way about him, and at this moment she barely knew he was alive. There had to be a way to make her see that he and Spike were one and the same, without her going completely crazy at him and never wanting to see him again.

The bell rang to signal the lesson was over and the teacher yelled over the sounds of scraping chairs and quiet voices.

"I want to see Buffy Summers, Percy West, and Amy Madison before you leave this room" she told them as the rest of the class filtered out. William hung back so he was last out of the classroom and was still by the door when Buffy came out muttering to herself.

"I suppose Miss Calendar didn't like your Shakespeare essay?" he asked her carefully.

"Like I need to know this crap anyway!" she complained as an answer to his question, "I have to write the whole thing again, what sense does that even make?!" she yelled as she stormed off down the corridor and he hurried to keep up with her.

"I could help, with the re-write" he told her, making her slow down and listen to him but not stop as they headed towards the row of lockers where hers resided, "If you want we could meet and go over your essay together, it shouldn't take long"

By now they had arrived at her locker and the gang were all already there, watching with amusement and expecting to see Will get knocked back again. They had figured he'd given in with the whole Buffy obsession but apparently not.

The blonde looked over at her friends, catching sight of Angels' nasty grin. He really loved to see people like William get shut down and Buffy so wanted to piss him off right now.

"Thanks William, that'd be great" she smiled, surprising the whole group, "We could meet in the Espresso Pump after school" she suggested, "today if you're free or tomorrow?"

William was shocked almost into silence when Buffy continued to smile at him and agree with his suggestion. Angel slammed his locker door shut, shoved an arm around Faith and stormed away as the gang stifled both shocked looks and smiles as they too filtered away.

William and Buffy set their study-date for tomorrow at four and then went their separate ways down the hall.

- - - - - - -

"I can't believe you actually got my stupid sister to agree to date you as yourself" Dawn laughed at the absurdity of it all as she sat in William's living room and waited for him to come down the stairs, "If it was so easy, why did we do the whole Spike thing?"

"It's not that easy" Will shook his head as he came down the stairs and responded to the young girl's yelling, "She only agreed to this because of Angel" he admitted somewhat sadly, "and because of the ridiculously good mood her date with Spike has put her in" he realised with a frown, it was still quite strange to talk about oneself in the third person.

"Y'know you look pretty cool for your geek-self" the girl smiled, hoping that would cheer him up.

"The more time you spend with Ripper, the cheekier you become, madam" he laughed as she did the same, though he appreciated her half-compliment really.

"So" William sighed, picking up his books, "do you have any plans of your own?" he asked her.

"Andrew said he was going to the record store tonight to pick out some new stuff" she shrugged, "I might go see what he's getting"

William smiled to himself, glad that Dawn liked this other boy. He wasn't vicious like Angel or ridiculous like Xander, he seemed decent enough and it was comfort to know that Dawn didn't like himself too much beyond friendship.

"You hoping he'll invite you to the Prom?" he asked and watched his young friend blush profusely.

"I don't know" she shrugged, "I mean, I know he's older and everything and a lot of people think he's weird but, I think he's cute and sweet and...oh God this is embarrassing" she laughed nervously and tried to hide behind her hair.

"There's nothing embarrassing about it" William said matter-of-factly, "You like him, there's no reason on Earth why he shouldn't like you. I only hope one of you has the nerve to do something about it" he told her with a smile.

"This was supposed to be about your date not mine" she reminded him and he looked at his watch with a moment's panic.

"Oh bugger" he cursed when he saw the time and hurried to the door with Dawn right behind him. She stifled a giggle as they said their goodbyes and he practically ran down the street. He was most definitely still William underneath it all but there was a small part of Spike that wasn't so very manufactured either.

- - - - - - -

"Hello Buffy" William tried to greet the girl without sounding so obviously out of breath, "I'm sorry if I'm a little late"

"No problem" she shrugged as he sat down on the stool beside her, "Let's just get this over with"

William wished she sounded a little more enthusiastic about spending time with him. She was so thrilled to be near him when he was Spike, but this way he might as well be anyone. Still, he comforted himself with the thought that she was probably just in a bad mood because she had to do extra homework and not because it was him she was doing it with.

Buffy got out her essay and passed it to William who frowned as he read her work. It was not what one could call good at all, which surprised him because she seemed like a fairly intelligent young woman.

"I'm usually not so bad at English" she defended herself, as if she'd read his mind "I just...lately things have been a little crazy" she shook her head and smiled as she thought about the craziness and just how fun it'd been.

"Anything you want to talk about?" William asked her, trying not to smile himself. The grin on her face right now was just the same as the one she wore when she was with Spike.

"No, it's not school stuff" she assured him, looking into the back of a spoon someone had left on the table "It really doesn't matter"

He nodded and looked back at her essay.

"Okay, well..." he stopped short when the spoon clattered to the table and Buffy threw her head in her hands.

"It's just this guy!" she complained a little to loudly, seeming as if she'd forgotten where she was and who she was talking to.

"Which guy?" Will asked casually as he could manage. Buffy looked at him seriously, wondering why he cared. He'd stooped hanging around her like a little lost puppy quite a while ago, and Willow really liked him as a friend so she said Hi to him in the halls sometimes but they weren't really more than indifferent acquaintances. Still, she had to tell someone because the whole situation with Spike and the gang was driving her crazy.

"Okay" she began "You remember I had this stupid idea about like my perfect boyfriend or whatever?"

"Er, yes" William managed to sound fairly casual, as if he could vaguely recall the conversation. In truth he was certain he remembered it by heart, it had hurt so much to hear that he never stood a chance with the woman of his dreams.

"Well, all of a sudden, I met him!" Buffy explained, and William couldn't help the smile that formed on his face.

"Your perfect man?" he checked, loving that she was talking about him this way, and, however wrong it was, getting a bit of a thrill out of knowing she had no clue.

"Pretty much" Buffy nodded "but y'see the problem is, I've met him twice now, I don't even know his real name and I haven't really seen his face cos he has these sunglasses..." she trailed off, looking a bit dejected. William panicked a little.

"And this is a problem?" he asked her "I thought you liked mysterious"

"I do" Buffy agreed "but...I mean, he could be anybody. What if underneath all the leather and bleach and attitude he's just, well, normal" she looked at him like she really did want a proper answer. William really didn't know what to say, since it was true. Underneath it all Spike was him, a regular, less-than-average geek.

"That would be a bad thing?" he said, half as a question, half as a statement.

"I don't know, I..." Buffy's voice disappeared as she realised he looked far from happy now.

'Of course, great move Buff' she thought to herself, 'No ordinary guy is good enough for you, not even him!'

"I think maybe we should get back to Shakespeare" she said with a half-smile and William nodded, glad to let that particular topic of conversation go, though for different reasons to those that Buffy was thinking of.

For something else to do, William began to turn the pages of Buffy's essay and couldn't help but laugh when he stumbled across one particular paragraph.

"What?" Buffy wasn't sure whether to be insulted or amused by the way he was staring at the page in apparent disbelief. Clearing his throat, the young man read aloud what had made him laugh.

" 'Juliet shoved a knife in herself because she came around and Romeo had already kicked it...' "

"I know, it sucks" Buffy tried not to laugh herself at how ridiculous it sounded. Her mind really hadn't been on her school work lately, but if she didn't get this right Miss Calendar would fail her in English and her parents would go nuts!

"Well, what you said was correct in theory" William assured her it wasn't so bad when she rested her chin on her hand and looked a little grumpy "you just could have worded it better"

"Okay" Buffy nodded picking up her pencil, her hand hovering above a new piece of paper "how would you say it?"

"Er, well..." the boy thought about it for a moment and then answered with his own version " 'Tormented by her lover's untimely demise, Juliet sheathed Romeo's dagger in her bosom and joined him in eternal rest...' "

He felt a little stupid when he looked over at Buffy and found she was just staring at him.

"Wow" was all she could find to say "I mean, that is just...wow" she repeated, as she put pencil to paper and frantically wrote down what he'd just said. William tried his best not to blush but found it was ridiculously difficult, despite the fact that when he was Spike he never got the least bit embarrassed or nervous about anything.

"Seriously, you're pretty smart" Buffy smiled, finishing off her sentence "You must think I'm so stupid"

"Not at all" William shook his head "Actually I think you're perfect" he blurted it out without thinking and her eyes darted up to meet his.

There was a moment when she wondered what it was she'd ever disliked about this guy, and a similar moment when he thought about telling her all about his being Spike, but that moment was all too quickly broken when a waitress walked over and waited to take their order.

"Er, you want a coffee?" Buffy offered, shaking her head to bring her out of a slight daze.

"Sure" William nodded with a small smile. Could it be that Buffy was beginning to like him for himself now? He'd see how the rest of their study-date went before he did anything stupid.

- - - - - - -

Buffy was almost disappointed when she realised that she now had all the tips and help she needed to re-write her essay to Miss Calendars standards. William had been so helpful, as well as kind of fun she realised as they exited the Espresso Pump together.

"Thanks for this" she smiled and gestured with her papers. William smiled.

"You're welcome" he told her, feeling that the time they'd spent together had gone even better than he'd hoped "Buffy, I was wondering if you would re-consider my offer of going out sometime?" he dared to ask, finding his shoes very interesting as he awaited her answer.

"Oh Will, I'm sorry" she shook her head and looked very awkward "I mean this was fun but it was a homework thing and..."

"And you actually don't like me at all" William couldn't believe he'd been so stupid as to think his real self would actually be of any interest to Buffy what-so-ever.

"Of course I like you" the blonde surprised herself by saying, though it was true "it's just complicated" she told him, hoping he'd understand, but knowing he really wouldn't since she barely did herself!

"Yeah" William laughed painfully as he turned to walk away "Y'know maybe Dawn was right" he called over his shoulder "She said you weren't worth the effort"

Buffy mumbled curses under her breath as she leant back against the wall by the coffee shop. Why did she have to be such a bitch to the poor guy? When had life gotten so complicated?

"Could today get any worse?" she asked the sky, before bringing her eyes back down and seeing two guys walking towards her, both in black leather jackets.

"Oh, thankyou" she said sarcastically as Angel and Xander arrived in front of her, neither looking very happy.

"Buffy" the taller of the two tried to control his temper "What's with spending time with the freakazoid?" he gestured with his head in the direction William was disappearing down the street.

"Well he helped you with your essays right?" she reminded him "Now he's helping me with mine" she shrugged like it was no big deal. In truth she knew one of the main reasons she'd accepted William's offer of help was because it would bug Angel to no end.

"You looked...friendly" he told her as if it were the worse thing in the world. She knew why he felt that way, it had always been the unwritten rule that their group of friends were above spending time with the other students termed as the freaks and geeks. It just seemed like a really stupid way to live these days.

"And it's a crime to have friends now?" she shot back. Angel opened his mouth to reply but Xander jumped in, always eager to back-up his 'leader' in an attempt to be as cool.

"It is when they're freaks like him!" he said forcefully until Buffy practically shot daggers from, her eyes at him and Angel have him a shove towards the door of the coffee shop.

"Xand, go wait for me inside" he ordered.

"But I..." the less tough brunette started to protest until both Angel and Buffy gave him a look that made him move his ass like he'd been told.

"Angel, what is this really all about?" Buffy asked him, as soon as their friend was gone. She knew it was more than just Will helping with her essay, and more to do with her going out with Spike on Friday night.

"We're really over, aren't we?" he said almost sadly "I mean, totally"

The look on his face, like a puppy that just got kicked, was making Buffy feel awful, despite the fact that she'd dumped Angel for a totally valid reason, and he'd got with Faith way before she'd even met Spike.

She couldn't really understand at first why that seemed to hurt him so much, but when you thought about it they had dated for quite a while. Besides it was more than just the end of their relationship they were taking about, it was getting close to Graduation, the end of their 'gang', a complete change to their lives.

"Yeah, we really are" she nodded "I've moved on, so have you"

"Easy as that, huh?" Angel shook his head, he'd never thought he and Buffy would end. He cared for Faith a lot and he was almost certain he meant it when he said he loved her, but it still hurt to know Buffy could be happy without him "And here was me thinking you were one of us" he said too nastily for her liking, "Guess your new friends mean more to you these days" with that he stormed into the coffee shop and Buffy's mouth opened and closed like a fish.

She should have expected a tantrum from Angel, he was incapable of letting things go. Still she'd had a decent time with Will today, and Spike had promised to meet her at the Pre-Prom event at the Bronze on Saturday...though that really was bugging her. How the hell did her magically appearing dream guy know about her school dance?

To Be Continued...

A/N2 : Y'know, it is far from easy re-writing one of your fave scenes from a film, trying to be both original and true to the new characters you've inserted, and at the same time trying to keep the essence of the original scene! I hope I pulled it off, but only you guys can tell me that. Review and let me know what you think please! ;-)


	14. Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting

A/N : Here we go, at last I have completed this chapter. It's been sitting around half done for a couple of days but finally I have it done. Thanx to the reviewers of the previous chapter; Mita427, Lady Savage, sunnyhell, pixiecorn, wicked-angel3, spikeswife1, naiya-isis, Higgy's Red, i luv spike, velja. Here's the new chapter...

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 14 - Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting

"So you guys will ride in Angel's car and I'll bring the girls in mine" Cordelia, ever the organiser, was still finalising plans for the Pre-Prom party at the Bronze this weekend. The gang were already dreading what she would be like in the week leading up to the actual prom if she was so bad now.

"Buffy are you even listening?" Cordy complained as her friend stared out of the window. She knew the others were getting bored of what they considered to be her rambling, but they at least pretended to listen. Her blonde friend it seemed was not even up to doing that.

"Sure, listening" Buffy snapped out of her daze only when Willow nudged her with her elbow, "Er, Pre-Prom thing, going in your car, got it" she repeated back.

"Hey Buff" Xander got her attention, "You gotta forget this Spike guy, he's bad news y'know"

She knew he was just saying it because Angel had told him too. The man himself was too afraid of losing Faith to make anymore comments on the subject so he'd got his second in command to do it for him.

"You don't know anything" Buffy shook her head as she got up from the table and walked away.

From across the room, William watched her go and sighed. When he was with her and he was Spike it couldn't be more perfect. Last Friday had been the greatest night of his life, and he thought Monday would be a close second when Buffy agreed to a study date after school. All his hopes and dreams were shattered when she made it perfectly clear he meant nothing to her, barely a friend nevermind anything else.

Had he been a fool, pretending to be what he wasn't so that she might love him? He knew the truth must be told and soon. The Prom was fast approaching and then they would graduate, if he didn't act fast this thing was going to escalate out of all proportion.

He'd quite decided that when it came to the Pre-Prom extravaganza at the Bronze, he would tell her who he really was, consequences be damned. He clung on to the shred of hope that she would understand and still want him, though he was also preparing himself for the worst.

- - - - - - -

"How can it go wrong?" Ripper asked the boy at the garage after school that day, "From what you and the little one have been telling me, Buffy thinks you're Adonis personified. She should be made up to find out you're a decent bloke underneath all the mystery"

"I'm not so sure" William shook his head, wiping grease from his hand down the leg of his overalls, "It's impossible to know what is going on in her head"

"S'not just her" Ripper scoffed, "All bloody women are the same. You can drive yourself nuts trying to please 'em, an all for nothing" he shook his head, "'Cept once in a while you get a little gem like your Buffy, and you just know, no matter what happens, it was worth the effort"

"S'pose you're right" William sighed, "but it doesn't make telling her the truth any less daunting" he realised.

"Right now, I don't think it'd matter if you told her you were a demon fresh out of hell" Dawn called from the door, she's been standing there listening for a while before she came in, "She's so completely head over heels for you, there's just no way she could let you go"

"How long have you been standin' there, you little minx?" Ripper wanted to know and Dawn shrugged.

"Long enough to know Spike is totally wigging over my sister...again!" she said with emphasis on the last word.

"You know what she means to me, Dawnie" William shook his head, "I just can't stand the thought that I'm gonna screw things up" he played with the wrench in his hands, looking down nervously. He'd been so much more confident since the whole Spike thing, even when he looked like regular old William, and Dawn hated knowing he was so panicked about this.

"Will, I promise it'll be okay" she swore, "And hey, it's not just gonna be you all nervous and panicky on Saturday" she told him, making him look up at her with a questioning look, "It's not exactly a date but Andrew said he'd save me a dance" she smiled, ducking her face behind her hair as she blushed scarlet.

William appreciated that she was nervous too, and that she was trying to re-assure him, but it was hardly the same thing. Eventually it was obvious that Andrew and Dawn would end up together, or at least dating for a while. What was far less certain was whether Spike would have a reason to go on existing after Saturday night. As much as he cared for Buffy, and he really did love her deeply, William felt he would be very disappointed to let go of his alter-ego as well as her, if it all went wrong.

- - - - - - -

Buffy stood outside the Bronze, checking her hair and make-up in the side mirror of the nearest parked car and flattening out the last couple of crinkles in her little black dress. The party started at seven and she'd arrived right on time, unsure when Spike was planning on getting there and definitely not wanting to miss him or have him think she stood him up.

Cordy had been kind of annoyed when Buffy had screwed with her meticulous planning, and had been dropped off by her mother instead of going in the car with the rest of the girls. Faith and Cordy didn't want to arrive too much before the guys or be the first ones there, they liked to make an entrance and so a certain amount of fashionable lateness was required. Willow went along with that and so they would not arrive til at least seven thirty.

Buffy checked her watch and realised it was almost that now. Several of those termed as the geek squad had already arrived but Buffy didn't pay any attention to them. She was sort of disgusted with herself when one of them said Hi to her and she didn't even know his name til he prompted her. She couldn't remember talking to Jonathan since seventh grade, and yet they'd been friends before. How had she turned into such a bitch?

It all made her think of William and how terribly she'd treated him. She wondered if maybe he'd show up at the party, but it would make little difference to her in the long run. After all she was waiting for Spike and who knew what excitement the night could hold once he arrived.

In the distance Buffy heard a bike engine and a smile spread across her face as she saw the headlamp of Spike's motorcycle as he approached. What she failed to notice was the black car coming from the side.

"I'm so glad you're here, I..." she began as soon as the bike stopped in front of her, but he never got the chance to answer her or even turn off the engine as a head appeared out of the black car's passenger window.

"It's him!" Xander yelled as Angel peered out of the other side of the vehicle.

"I warned you two!" he shouted angrily, "Now this guy pays!"

Spike pulled the bike round to leave, and Buffy panicked.

"Don't go" she begged and Spike smiled, reaching out a hand to her face.

"I'll be back, gorgeous" he promised, before he raced off, swerving around the car and burning rubber down the street.

"This time we get him, Summers!" Angel grinned maniacally as he revved the engine.

"Angel, no!" Buffy called as the car swung around and gave chase to the bike. The blonde girl panicked, wondering what to do for the best, then she saw her salvation.

"Cordy!" she screamed as the red car came into view "Cordy, we have to follow them, they're gonna kill him" she cried as she forced Faith forward in the passenger seat and scrambled into the back with Willow.

"What?!" was all Cordelia could find to say, glancing towards the Bronze and then into the back of the car at her friend.

"Please, just drive" Buffy begged and with a glance to Faith who nodded, Cordelia put the car in gear and sped off in the same direction as Spike and Angel's gang had gone.

"Buffy, what the hell is happening?!" Faith yelled at her friend, turning in the front seat to peer over at the blonde.

"It's Spike" she explained, tears streaming down her face "They said they're gonna kill him"

"Your mystery guy?" the brunette frowned as they all looked up ahead, straining to spot Angel's car.

"Buffy they wouldn't do it" Willow shook her head as she got hold of her friends hand "Oz wouldn't..."

"He wouldn't need to Will" Cordelia called from the front, interrupting the red-head "Angel would, and as much as I love him Xander is stupid enough to help"

"And Andrew'll do anything to stay in that gang" Faith added, actually starting to worry a little now. She was okay with the guys getting into fights, she'd got into more than a few herself in the past, but now they were talking about murder.

"Oh my God" Buffy gasped, pointing to the road ahead, as a bike flew around the next corner with a black car in pursuit. Cordy screeched the tyres as she made the tight turn to follow, and Willow tried to comfort her distressed friend.

"It's okay, Buffy" she said putting an arm around her, hugging her as she cried "I promise it'll be okay" she knew she should be making no promise of the kind but what else could she say?

"Where the hell is he going?" Cordy mumbled as they pulled round yet another bend, and started travelling uphill.

Faith shook her head as she looked up ahead.

"We're a half mile from a dead end" she told her friends, "This chase'll be over before you know it"

Buffy brought her head up from Willow's shoulder to glance at the view and she realised Faith was right. This was the way Spike had brought her on Friday night, up to the bluff over-looking the whole town. She wondered why he would lead the guys up there if he knew there was nowhere to go when he reached the top...or maybe he'd thought he'd lose them before now.

- - - - - - -

"He's got nowhere to go, he has to pull up" Xander yelled excitedly as they continued to chase the bike up the slope.

In the back of the car Andrew looked scared stiff and Oz, though he'd given up trying to tell Angel and Xand this was a bad idea, was far less than happy with what was happening around him. He'd spotted Cordelia's car racing along behind them, and knew both his girlfriend and Buffy looked petrified.

The black car stopped abruptly when Angel realised driving any further would be suicide. What he couldn't believe was when Spike didn't make the same decision. The bike he rode flew off the edge of the precipice. As if in slow motion it hung in the air and then it was gone, tail lights disappearing into nothingness.

"What the hell...?!" Xander yelled as he climbed from the car, the other guys doing the same. Angel's face was pale and he was shaking though he tried to hide it. This guy had just driven to his probable death, and all because of him.

"Spike!" Buffy screamed as Cordelia's car screeched to a halt and the girls ran from it, "What did you do?!" she shrieked at Angel who still stood motionless a few feet back from the edge.

Oz being the most sensible and least panicked amongst them climbed right up to the edge and looked over and Buffy ran up beside him.

"He's not down there" the currently green-haired guy told Buffy and then the assembled group.

"What do you mean he's not down there?" Xander frowned coming to see for himself, "Where did he go?"

"He's dead" Buffy said flatly, as tears ran unchecked down her cheeks. Willow immediately ran to her side.

"Buffy, he's probably okay" she tried to comfort her friend, "You said he rode that bike like no-one else ever could. If that's true, you know he'll be okay"

"She's right, B" Faith did her best at sympathetic but soon realised why she didn't usually try, "and hey, he wouldn't've felt nothin' even if he did hit the bottom"

Cordelia rolled her eyes as she pushed past her friend and came to stand the other side of Buffy.

"Come on, sweetie, we have to get out of here" she said gently as she could, whilst Buffy only cried harder.

"Yeah, we should get out of here too" Oz told the guys, taking the driver's seat when it was clear Angel was in no fit state. Andrew was only too happy to get away from this place and Xander felt sick now he realised the guy might really be dead. Threatening violence, even doleing out punches was fine but to be an actual murderer, he hated to think he should take some of the responsibility for what happened here tonight.

Buffy could not stop crying as the girls managed to get her into the car and drive back to The Bronze. Willow had suggested they take the blonde home, but she said she couldn't face her parents in this state. They didn't know about Spike, and probably wouldn't approve if they did. It seemed Buffy would be forced to mourn for her love alone, who else was going to care?

To Be Continued...

A/N2 : Raise your hand if you're in shock? lol. Review and let me know what you think. Oh, and unfortunately we're headed for the end of this fic, but don't worry, there is still more to go yet, and I have other all-human fic ideas bouncing around in my head already.


	15. Aftermath

A/N : Thanx to; Mita427, Higgy's Red, Lindsay, wicked-angel3, Lady Savage, i luv spike, pixiecorn, Mr Lennox I pressume, AnitaBlake/BuffyFan, nikki, sunnyhell, Meg, Celestria-17, electricgurl, for the lastes reviews. The first chunk of this chapter is in response to some reviews I got throughout the run of this fic, asking me what Ripper's story was. I wanted to explain before we reached the end and given that we're almost there now, it really had to go in this chapter, I think it kind of fits anyway.  
_(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)_

Chapter 15 - Aftermath

Rupert Giles, a man known to the town of Sunnydale by the dangerous handle of Ripper, was loathed to admit it, but he was actually worried. There were few things in the world he truly cared about and even less that he thought were worthy, but one boy he'd come to care for almost like a son was William Spencer. He assumed it was because there were so many similarities between the two of them. Like William, young Rupert had been quite the geek, all into books and poetry and wearing sensible shoes that his mother picked out for him. Then he'd met this girl, an American exchange student called Jenny Calendar.

That girl was all he wanted but she paid him less attention than the mud on her shoes. She was never unpleasant to him, she didn't care enough for that, he just didn't even register on her radar and eventually Rupert decided something had to be done about it.

First came the ripped jeans, the leather jacket, then the punk music and attitude, that soon earned him the name of Ripper as he learnt to fight and took on anyone who so much as looked at him in the wrong way. He got a motorbike and a gang, and was soon known all over town as a man not to be messed with. Jenny fell into his arms as the cliché predicted and it seemed that happily ever after was inevitable, but all too soon Ripper lost his girl back to her home country.

His luck seemed to come and go like the tide, his favourite uncles death bringing him terrible pain, but at the same time joy since he'd left a vast sum of money to his nephew. Enough cash now to travel to America and good enough prospects to apply to stay, Ripper went in search of his beloved. It was a hell of a shock when he arrived at her home only to told by her distraught flat-mate she'd been killed during a mugging a few days before.

The pain almost tore him apart, and for days he survived on scotch and little else. He plotted revenge, the one thing that he was not as proud of as some might have been, but that was a topic he did not dare to dwell on too much and he wasn't given a chance as Dawn came bolting into the garage, tears streaming down her face.

"Oh bloody hell"

- - - - - - -

"I just feel awful for her" Willow was close to tears as she slow-danced with her boyfriend, looking over his shoulder at Buffy. The blonde was sitting at the bar, still crying over her lost love.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart" Oz sympathised, "but y'know Angel never meant for that to happen, and I'm not saying I'm glad he's gone, but maybe it's better for Buffy to find a real boyfriend, not some fantasy guy"

"I know you're right" Willow nodded, "but you didn't hear her talk about him, Oz. She was so into him, it was insane but it was so real. I think somehow they really were in love"

Not knowing what to say, Oz just pulled his tearful girlfriend closer as they swayed to the music.

It was clear that none of the in-crowd gang were really enjoying this event that should have been spectacular and second in greatness only to the Prom of next weekend. That was set to be equally as dismal at this rate.

Cordelia had managed to adequately distract Xander from grim thoughts of possible murder charges, and Faith was trying to do the same for Angel. Andrew seemed to be in some kind of shocked state until Dawn arrived a few minutes later. That was when bad got worse.

"Hey Andrew" she smiled as she sat down on the stool beside him. The girls had left without her before, as Joyce insisted all her homework be done before she headed out to the party. Her father dropped her off and she was to get a ride home with her sister and friends at the end of the night.

"Hi Dawnie" he replied, not really looking at her. She was terribly disappointed since she'd spent so long on her appearance tonight.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, wondering why he was staring at some meaningless spot on the wall.

"Your sister's boyfriend...er, Spike, I think" he explained, "Something bad happened"

Dawn closed her eyes and sighed. So it seemed William had told the truth and Buffy wasn't quite so forgiving as she ought to be. Well, Dawn was gonna have to deal with this. She stormed over to her sister, only seeing her from the back until now. It was as she arrived at her side she realised how upset she was.

"Buffy, I have to talk to you...Why are you crying?" she asked, knowing she should be more angry than tearful about William's dishonesty.

"What do you care?!" her sister snapped, trying to dry the tears from her cheeks but finding it pointless as more replaced them faster than she could cope with.

"Of course I care" Dawn was quite hurt to think Buffy believed that she didn't, "So tell me"

The blonde swallowed hard, looking up at her little sister through a veil of tears.

"Spike's dead" she choked out before beginning to sob all over the bar again. Dawn shook her head, a frantic stream of words filling her head but none willing to leave her mouth as she stepped back in shock. She glanced around the club and then ran for the door, making it just outside before she threw up spectacularly.

If Spike was dead, that meant William was too - they were one and the same after all. He was her best friend, sometimes her only friend, not counting Ripper, and that was different because he was a grown-up. Of course she had to tell him what had happened, only she didn't really know. Maybe he did? It didn't matter who knew what, she realised as she ran for all she was worth, heading for the garage on the other side of town. It was miles but she didn't care, as she pounded down street after street. Almost half an hour later she burst into the building and Ripper gasped at the sight of her.

"Bloody hell" he exclaimed, taking in her wild hair, red and tear-stained face, the mud splattered up her party outfit and her special shoes so mangled they bearly held together.

"Is it true?" she gasped, "It can't be, it just can't but..."

"Whatever's wrong with you, Dawn?" he asked, rushing over to her and carefully helping her to a place where she could sit down. She tried to breathe and found it difficult after the exertion of running so far and so fast, coupled with the crying she'd done the whole way. Ripper rinsed out a cup and got her some water to drink which she was grateful for.

"Now, calm as you can, luv" he said gently, "Tell me what happened?"

"I went to the Bronze" the girl sobbed, "I...Buffy was there, she was upset...she said..Oh God, she said Spike was dead"

Ripper just shook his head and looked stunned, much as Dawn herself had done when she was told the news of Spike's demise.

"How?" he choked out eventually and the girl told him she didn't know.

"He was my friend, and I loved him" she said sniffing and coughing still, "and now...he's gone"

"Not quite" said a familiar voice from the door, and Ripper and Dawn both turned to see if it really was him.

Framed in the doorway by the light of the moon, stood a thoroughly cut and bruised William, still in his alter-ego's gear, a mess of a bike next to him.

"Spike!" Dawn squealed running at him. He winced as she hugged him tight and came close to falling down when she let go. Ripper rushed to help him over to where Dawn had been sitting before.

"You look bloody awful" the older man told the boy who let out a painful laugh.

"Thought I looked pretty good" he managed a painful smirk "for a dead man"

"What happened?" Dawn asked frantically, "Buffy just said you were..." she couldn't say the word to his face, not even if he himself could do it. He breathed unevenly, looking over at his bike that leant against the wall now.

"Can't tell you exactly what happened" he admitted, trying to remove his coat and finding it hurt in all kinds of ways, "I know that stupid bloody Angel and his gang started it, chased me from the Bronze in their soddin' car threatening to do me in"

"Bloody bastards" Ripper threw in as he brought the first aid box over. There was one particularly nasty cut above Spike's eye, heaven only knows how he'd got it.

"Anyway, I led 'em a right merry dance and then headed up to the bluff. I figured it was my own turf so to speak, maybe I could lose them on the way...I don't know" he shook his head, realising he hadn't pulled off any kind of plan too well.

"They did this to you?" Dawn gasped, knowing Angel could be violent, and even the others had got into fights, but to willingly beat Spike to a pulp like this was just barbaric.

"Did they hell!" Spike protested, coughing when he tried to raise his voice, "Drove off the edge didn't I" he admitted and Ripper glanced between the boy and the bike.

"You drove off the end of the bluff, on that" he gestured towards the machine, "and you and it are still in more or less one piece each?"

"Looks like" the boy agreed and Ripper grinned.

"Then I either taught you bloody well" he told him, "or you're a favourite amongst the Powers That Be" he said as he helped him clean up his cuts and checked him over for broken bones. Spike explained he'd hit his head on a sharp rock, gaining the cut above is eye. Ripper reckoned he'd have a cool looking scar running through his eyebrow after this, it was just a fraction away from needing stitches.

Dawn begged him to go to the hospital until he finally caved, it was only the possibility of broken ribs that convinced him. For the rest part he was just all cuts and bruises, though it seemed that unseen parts of his body had taken the brunt of it, luckily for William. His mother would go crazy if she realised, and the cut on his eye was at least explainable - he tripped and hit his head on a door knob, yeah, that'd work.

"We have to tell Buffy you're okay" Dawn suddenly released and began running for the door. William, now in his other clothes, those he had as Spike in a messy pile in the corner, called for the girl to stop.

"She thinks Spike is dead, and she's right" he said solemnly, "I'm alive, but that part of me is gone, it's better that way"

"What are you talking about?" Ripper frowned and the boy sighed before explaining.

"Being Spike almost got me killed" he pointed out "and Buffy will never understand about me being him" he said sadly, "I can't be Spike forever, I have to be myself. If that's not good enough then maybe she's not worth my time and effort"

"But you love her" Dawn reminded him, "and I know she loves you"

"The man she loves is dead, Dawn" he said, maybe a little too harshly, "I can't do it anymore"

- - - - - - -

Monday morning at Sunnydale High school and it was the last place Buffy Summers wanted to be. The night before last, her one true love had taken a fatal tumble off the end of the bluff and died. What seemed most tragic was he had passed away in the very same place they'd stood together, when they'd confessed love for each other and kissed beneath the moon and stars.

Saturday night she'd had the most exquisite dream about him, only to wake up in even more pain than before when she realised it had been just an illusion.

She was standing up there, right on the edge, looking out at the town down below

"Don't wanna go down there" a familiar voice had said behind her and she hadn't needed to turn to know it was him.

"You did" she'd pointed out as he came closer to her and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind.

"But I'm still here" he'd whispered in her ear, and she'd turned to face him. He'd kissed her then and the world spun out of control in wondrous fashion. Words of love and emotion whispered between kisses that went on forever until the ground gave way beneath them, the magic of the dream broken, and all she could hear was the alarm clock ringing and her mother yelling she was going to be late for school.

Buffy closed her eyes and sighed before concentrating back on the here and now, getting her books from her locker. Dawn watched her go off to her next class and then spotted William, who'd been doing the same.

"How can you do this to her?" she hissed as she reached his side. He'd been in no fit state to be repeatedly washing his hair to get the dye out yesterday so he wore a baseball cap, the front pulled down far enough that his eyes were in shadow, hiding the cut above the left one.

"It's better this way Dawnie, and you know it" he told her, "I can't keep on lying to her"

The young girl shook her head as she turned to walk away.

"You're still lying"

- - - - - - -

After school, William went over to Ripper's garage, thankful yet again for the fact his mother had gone to visit his aunt, from last Thursday to this.

"Look here, it's the walking dead" the older man commented, finishing off his cigarette and stubbing it out with the heel of his boot.

"Thought I'm come and see what I could salvage" the boy gestured towards the bike with his head as he removed his cap.

"Didn't think you'd care now" said Ripper, following his line of sight "Spike's dead, right?"

"I thought he was" William nodded, "but...it's like the line that separated the Spike side of me and the real side, that line's not so clear anymore" he tried to explain "I'm not who I used to be"

"It's not just the play acting that did it" Ripper smirked, walking over to the bike. He hadn't touched it all day, hoping Will would come back to deal with it himself "You fell in love. That wild part of you that makes you Spike, that part fell in love too, there's no way round it" he said, concentrating on cleaning the filth off the machine in front of him.

"You think Dawn's right, don't you?" William sighed as he came to crouch beside his friend and the bike "I should tell Buffy the truth"

"I think, first of all, we fix this little beauty" Ripper told him "and worry about the rest after, if you don't know now"

"I've only got a week, then it's Prom, Graduation..." William shook his head "there's nothing to say where we'll all end up after that" he said thoughtfully.

"So?" Ripper prompted, hoping for a positive response.

"So, I have to stop being such a spineless git" his young friend said, sounding more like Spike than he ever had, whilst supposedly not being him, "Reckon we can have this bike fixed by Prom night?"

To Be Continued...

A/N2 : See? You were all correct! I could never kill off poor Spikey! Like this chapter? I hope you did, but please let me know in the usual manner! Oh, and anyone who is also reading my other WIP 'Our Little Secret' , I'm updating that tonight too! :-)


	16. Prom Night

A/N : Thanx for the latest reviews; Mita247, spikeswife1, Celestria-17, wicked-angel3, i luv spike, Lady Savage, AnitaBlake/BuffyFan, Higgy's Red, Lindsay, Babe in Blue, mistress. Here is the sixteenth and final chapter of this fic. I've really enjoyed writing it, the idea was in my head for months before I actually got around to starting it and now it's all done. Really glad you guys have enjoyed reading, hope you like the ending too! :-)  
_(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)_

Chapter 16 - Prom Night

"Buffy sweetheart, you look beautiful" Joyce Summers grinned from ear to ear as her daughter descended the stairs in her Prom dress. It was a beautiful fabric that shimmered as she walked, apperaring cream at first and then gold when the light caught it. It was off the shoulder and hugged her figure, ending at her knees, with strappy sandals to match and her hair curled and pinned up on her head.

This had all been for Spike's benefit in the first place but even with him gone she knew she had to make an effort. Her parents had been looking forward to her Senior Prom almost as long a she had, as had all her friends. Her night might be ruined, her life in fact may be changed and spoilt, but she wasn't about to wreck the night for everyone else, it meant too much to them.

"Thanks, Mom" she said with a half-hearted smile that lasted just long enough for two photographs before she got to the bottom of the stairs and Dawn took her turn.

"Dawnie, you look so grown up" Hank commented as she posed for a couple of shots and Joyce frowned slightly as she pulled at the front of the dress, attempting to cover more of her younger daughter's skin with the small amount of fabric.

The girl herself was just thrilled to be attending this Prom. Andrew had finally asked her, and tonight was going to be perfect, especially since Spike had planned on a big surprise for Buffy. He was going to show up in his gear, ask her to dance and hold her close whilst she got over her shock that he was still alive. Then he planed to take her up to the bluff on the bike and show her who he really was when they were alone. Dawn only hoped it all went to plan.

"The limo's here girls" Hank interrupted both of his daughters thoughts and they headed outside to the car where the rest of the gang waited.

"Hey Buff, looking good" Xander smiled, still feeling bad about Spike and knowing he'd been a part of the cause of her pain.

Buffy climbed in and sat beside Willow who agreed she looked great. The blonde didn't really answer, just managed a half-smile as Dawnie climbed in behind her and Andrew grinned so wide his face almost split in two.

"Dawnie you look incredible" he told her and she had the good grace to blush.

Angel and Faith seemed to be over any badness in their relationship as they made out in one corner, Xander took full advantage of Cordelia's low cut dress in another, whilst the other two couples chatted animatedly. Buffy stared out of the tinted window and sighed. Tonight should have been so perfect, now it felt as if nothing ever would be again.

- - - - - - -

When the limo pulled up outside Sunnydale High, Dawn and Andrew were first out of the car, with her sister not far behind. The other couples were all so 'busy' they barely noticed the car had stopped moving. Buffy couldn't help the small smile that graced her face as she took in the scene.

Three weeks ago some troublemakers had managed to set part of the school gym on fire and whilst the damage was repairable there was no way of knowing how fast it could be done. Emergency meetings of the Prom committee were held and an idea was soon formed - why not hold the Prom outside? What could make the evening more romantic, special, and memorable, than being out under the stars?

Money for decorations had been spent mostly on fairy lights that hung with vines of fake flowers around white trellis panels, that surrounded a specially built dancefloor and small stage. A marquees to one side held refreshments and there were sections with tables and chairs laid out with white table cloths and ornate centre pieces.

The lights and the music and the atmosphere made it feel like fairyland, though Buffy knew if such a place existed she wouldn't be standing alone in it, magic would bring her love back to her. If only it could be true.

- - - - - - -

"Er, hi" said a small voice from a mini stage that had been constructed next to the dancefloor, "It's time to announce the Prom King and Queen" it was Jonathan who spoke and no-one paid much attention until he said 'Prom King and Queen' then everyone's ears were wide open, wondering who would earn the crowns.

Buffy hid at the back of the crowd, sipping at her punch and thinking about Spike as she had been for the past hour and a half. She couldn't help but wonder how he would look in a tux, what he was really like underneath it all. She loved him as he was, but she would have loved to have known more.

"Prom King for 2004 is...Angel O'Connor" she heard the announcement and rolled her eyes. Like it wasn't obvious he'd get it? She watched Angel dive up onto the stage and accept his crown with a huge grin on his face. Faith was watching too, and Buffy absently thought it was a little unfair that she'd probably get Queen, just because she was dating Angel now...

"And the Sunnydale High Prom Queen of 2004 is...Buffy Summers"

The glass of punch almost slipped from her hands as she heard the words. Angel looked only moderately surprised, whilst Faith looked ready to explode. Buffy shook her head at Jonathan as he urged her onto the stage, the sound of her classmates clapping and cheering re-verberating all around.

With a deep breath she accepted fate and made her way up onto the stage where a tiara type crown was placed upon her head.

"Thankyou" she said into the microphone, just as Angel had done and she vaguely heard Jonathan announce that the Prom King and Queen would now share a dance. She winced at the very idea as Angel silently took her hand and led her back down to the dancefloor. She allowed herself to be pulled into his arms as the music started up again and they moved around the floor without a word. As soon as the other couples filtered in around them and everyone stopped staring, Buffy caught site of a fairly pissed-off looking Faith.

"Hey" she called, waving her over. The brunette sulkily did as she was asked, "I think you should have your boyfriend back now" Buffy said kindly, stepping out of Angel's arms. Faith happily went into them, kissing him soundly as he pulled her close.

Buffy headed towards one of the tables but Dawn quickly intervened.

"Hey Buff, if you wanna dance you could borrow Andrew" her sister told her, "I don't mind, so long as it's just for one song"

"Thanks Dawnie, but I think I'll sit this one out" she smiled at her sisters kind thought and took a seat, watching the younger girl head back to the dancefloor with her date.

Buffy's head soon filled itself with thoughts of Spike again. She just couldn't help but be taken over by memories and dreams of him and all he meant to her. It was all so unfair, to find what you'd been looking for only to have it snatched away just when you were enjoying it so much.

In the distance a motorcycle engine revved and Buffy swivelled in the seat, her rational mind being over-run by her wishes, praying that the sound meant Spike was back somehow. She got the shock of her life when she realised it was the bike beneath Riley Finn that she had heard, riding one side of Adam Walsh's car, containing him and his gang, with Graham Miller riding his motorcycle on the other side. They made a menacing sight, especially since they were driving in a straight line, right towards the dancefloor.

Many a girl screamed in panic, running for their lives as the car pulled up with a bike either side, mere inches from the edge of the dancefloor. Riley and Graham dismounted as Adam and three other large guys climbed out of the car. Angel and his gang were quick to face up to the trouble as all the other students took a step back.

"What are you doin' here Walsh? This ain't your turf" Angel asked the leader of the opposing gang, who smiled evilly.

"You think we care about that, Angel-boy?" he sneered.

"We told you you'd get what was coming to you" Riley reminded them, "Now it's payback time"

With that, the fight began, the girls all shrieking everytime a blow was given and received, whilst a few of the guys decided to get in on the action. They were not happy that their Prom was being ruined, or that their girls had been upset.

Buffy quickly found Dawn and made sure she was safe. Despite the fights they often had, the sisters cared a lot for each other and were soon standing well back from the action, watching in horror as Andrew took a hit and went down.

Dawn yelled and broke free from Buffy's grip as she went running to her fallen dates side. Walsh turned to face the girl, a nasty look in his eye. Her sister opened her mouth to scream Dawn's name when a voice came over the tannoy system making everybody listen.

"Hey, Walsh!" called the voice that grabbed everyone's attention.

"Hey, it's that guy from the Bronze?" one of the gang members frowned and Buffy looked up in utter shock.

"Oh my God!" she gasped.

"No way!" Angel yelled as he tried to pull himself up from the ground where he'd previously fallen.

"Yes way" Dawn smiled as she dragged Andrew off to the side. Okay so this wasn't how Spike had planned the evening, but it was about to get good, she just knew it.

"You want a real fight with a guy who really pissed you off?" Spike challenged an enraged looking Adam Walsh, "Bring it on, Nancy-boy!" he added with a grin, as he leapt from the stage and scrambled onto his bike. He revved the engine before driving full pelt at the shocked looking gang members.

Riley and Graham were the first to take him on but Spike out manoeuvred them at every turn, knocking them off their transport enough times to make them give up. Seeing them go down worried the rest of the gang, all except Adam who stood rooted to the spot, shocked by the turn of events.

"Hey, asshole!" a voice said behind him and he turned around fast, only to receive a severe smack in the face, coupled with a kick in the vitals from one angry brunette in a red dress.

"That's the last time you lay a hand on my guy!" Faith said defiantly as he fell to the ground with a thump, groaning from the pain at either end of his body.

Buffy's eyes were wide as dinner plates as she watched Spike lead Adam's gang a merry dance, til eventually they grabbed up their leader and left at an even higher speed than they'd arrived.

The crowd turned to the hero on the motorcycle as he slowed up next to the stage, abandoning the bike to climb back up onto the podium and grab the mike. He had one final thing to say to this lot before school was permanently out.

"Sunnydale High School, Class of 2004" he yelled, "I came here tonight because I'm in love with Buffy Summers" he told them as she fought threw the crowds to reach the edge of the stage. He spotted her immediately and smiled still as one hand went to his face, "and because there's something I have to tell her..." he added, removing his sunglasses and looking straight at her.

If she was shocked before she was doubly so now as William Spencer jumped down from the stage, landing right beside her. The geek that had asked her out months ago, the guy who helped the guys with their homework and her with her English essay, the guy she had confided in about Spike...all the time he was him, her dream guy. It was too much for her mind to take in.

"What the hell?!" Angel had trouble standing after the fight and the shock of realising that not only was Buffy's mystery man not dead, but that underneath it all he was nothing but a geek.

"You?" Xander gasped as he ran to see what was going on "Homework guy?"

"That's..not what I expected" Oz added as he and Willow stepped forward too.

"No" Angel laughed slightly, looking the boy up and down "seriously, you're not..."

"Yes Angel" the bleached blond cut him off "I am Spike, and William" he explained.

"Gotta hand it to ya English" Faith grinned, slinging an arm around her boyfriends shoulder "you surprised me"

"Surprised myself a bit" Spike smirked, before he turned back to look at Buffy who was still stunned. The look she and Spike shared made Faith realise this was not time for a chat, the needed to be alone.

"I think this'd be a good time to split" she told Angel, dangling his Prom crown on her finger "Okay with you, lover?"

"Yeah, sure" he smiled over at her, turning to leave before changing his mind "Oh, one other thing...here" he said, surprising Spike immensely by taking his crown from Faith and handing it to him.

"But I..." Spike frowned, but Angel shook his head.

"Doesn't go with my outfit" he smiled slightly, slapping him on the back before walking away. In someway that was acceptance, and a huge relief to Spike who didn't really feel up to yet another fight! He placed the crown down on the stage and looked back at Buffy, knowing he owed her a huge explanation.

"Buffy I..."

"Spike! That was amazing!" a young voice yelled, and he was distracted by the young girl that came barrelling towards him, hugging him tight as soon as she reached him.

"You okay, Dawn?" he smiled, hugging her back, loving to see the huge grin on her face when they parted.

"I'm the only Freshman to get invited to the Senior Prom, Spike" she said with a tone of voice that said 'duh!' "I'm having the time of my life!"

"Well, you look the part" he told her, knowing all she wanted was to be a grown up "The dress is stunning" he assured her.

"Thanks" she almost blushed at the comment "not looking so bad yourself" she admitted "but y'know, I kinda got my own man now" she illustrated her point by moving closer to Andrew and taking hold of his hand.

"Finally managed it, eh?" Spike smirked, knowing this was all Dawn had wanted for a long time.

"That thing you did, with the bike, that was incredible!" Andrew enthused, but Spike was getting more and more distracted by the woman still waiting for his explanation.

"Thanks Andrew" he said absently as Dawn nudged her date in the side with her elbow.

"Come on, I think they wanna be alone"

As the crowd dispersed, and calm returned, someone managed to get some quiet music playing and a few couples were soon dancing again whilst some decided they'd had quite enough excitement for one night.

In the middle of it all, Spike, or should it be William?, stood opposite Buffy with an apologetic look on his face.

"I thought you were dead" she told him with tears in her eyes, though he was still unsure as to what she was really feeling right now.

"I'm sorry, luv" he told her, not knowing what else to say. He had whole speeches he'd planned for tonight and now it came to the crunch all his words escaped him. She stepped closer to him and reached out a hand to her face, fingers tracing the scar that ran through his eyebrow, before moving back through his hair.

"I can't believe it was you all along" she whispered, emotion over coming her.

"I wanted to tell you, pet" he told her just as quietly, "really I did..."

"Sshh" she hushed him, so close he felt the sound more than he heard it before she brought her lips to his and initiated a kiss that made his head spin as well as her own. Her arms wound round his neck as his hands went to her waist and pulled her closer.

Moments later, when oxygen became an issue for both of them, they parted but not by much, foreheads still touching as they both smiled.

"Wow" Spike was feeling so many different and wonderful emotions he didn't know where to begin "I never thought you'd kiss me like if you knew I was William" he said honestly and Buffy couldn't help but laugh.

"You are so mentally challenged!" she exclaimed, tears of joy and relief and heaven only knows what rolling down her cheeks "I'm kissing you like this _because_ you are William" she told him solemnly "and because you're Spike, and because you cared enough to be what I wanted" she lowered her eyes to her shoes as she added "I just feel awful for making you change"

"Don't feel so bad about it, luv" he told her, lifting her chin with his fingers until their eyes met again "I happen to kind of like the new me" he told her with a tilt of his head and a smirk.

"Yeah?" Buffy smiled again now "Well, I pretty much love the new you...I love all of you" she said in total seriousness and it was all he ever wanted to hear. He lowered his head and kissed her then as literal fireworks went off overhead.

"I love you too, pet" he whispered, pulling her close as he could get her.

And off to the side some uninformed student squinted her eyes and pointed in the general direction of the couple as she whispered to her friend;

"Who's that guy?"

--The End--

A/N2 : Well, that's it, all over. Please leave a final review and let me know what you think. I'm gonna take a little break from posting fic for a while. I have some ideas I want to work out for new stories and also a lot of other non-fic related stuff that I want to deal with at the moment. Don't worry, I shall return with more Spuffy soon! In the meantime, please let me know what you think of this story, either the whole thing if you didn't review before or the finale if you're one of my regular readers/reviewers. Catch ya later guys! :-)


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